The DAX maintained a positive trajectory on Friday, holding high after starting the day in favorable territory. Around 12:30 PM, the leading index was calculated at approximately 24,810 points, marking a gain of 0.8 percent compared to the previous day’s closing level.
Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, noted that investors were adopting a more defensive posture ahead of the weekend, focusing on traditional, established sectors within the DAX. He pointed out that the closure of US markets on Monday extends the weekend, thereby increasing the risk of escalation in the Middle East.
According to Lipkow, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and semiconductors remain the primary growth drivers. The sentiment was further supported by domestic German data; consumer and business climate figures were released and came in slightly better than anticipated. The top-performing stocks in the DAX included Infineon, Deutsche Post, Symrise, and Zalando, while Vonovia and Fresenius Medical Care were in the loss zone, trading today ex-dividend.
In commodity markets, the European common currency showed slight weakness on Friday afternoon: one Euro exchanged for 1.1602 US dollars, meaning a dollar could be bought for 0.8619 Euros. The price of gold declined, dropping 0.4 percent in the afternoon to 4,526 US dollars per troy ounce, equivalent to 125.43 Euros per gram. Conversely, crude oil saw a significant rise; the North Sea Brent crude traded at nearly 104.80 US dollars per barrel around noon Central European Time, representing an increase of 2.2 percent from the prior closing price.
