The German DAX managed to partially recover some of its losses on Wednesday afternoon after a very weak start to the trading day. Around 12:30 PM, the index was recorded at roughly 24,956 points, which represented a decline of 0.8 percent compared to the previous trading day. The stocks of Hochtief, Fresenius, and Heidelberg Materials led the performance, while FMC, BASF, and Infineon finished lower.
Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, commented that investors are becoming more selective, paying close attention to specific sectors that might develop positively in the coming months. He noted that the broader German market is currently less attractive because rising energy costs are negatively impacting the country’s heavily export-oriented sectors.
The analyst also pointed out that significant weight stocks in the index are reaching a saturation point, as themes such as rearmament, AI, and interest rate expectations are either fully priced in or undergoing transformation. For Lipkow, investing in the DAX currently does not guarantee positive returns, given that the German economy faces considerable geopolitical and cyclical risks.
Lipkow further stated that the optimism regarding potentially decreasing price increases in the United States might remain a local phenomenon for the time being and may not be transferable to other countries. Consequently, the potential second-round effects from falling oil prices remain a key focus for central bankers in England and the European Central Bank.
Meanwhile, the European community currency weakened slightly in the afternoon: the Euro traded at 1.1417 US dollars, and a US dollar was available for 0.8759 Euros. The oil price, however, increased noticeably. Brent crude from the North Sea traded around 85.62 US dollars per barrel around 12 PM German time on Wednesday, which was 89 cents or 1.1 percent higher than the close of the previous trading session.
