The German stock index opened Thursday morning on a clear decline. At 9:30 a.m. local time the DAX was calculated at 23,035 points, 2 % below the closing level of the previous day. The top of the gains list featured Rheinmetall, Deutsche Börse and Hannover Rück, while the worst performers were Vonovia, Siemens Energy and Infineon.
Energy prices tightened again following Israel’s strikes on Iran’s gas industry and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on gas facilities in Qatar. At the market opening the price of natural gas jumped more than 28 %, later stabilising at about a 22 % increase. In the European wholesale market the price for a megawatt‑hour of April delivery reached up to €72, which translates into a consumer price of roughly 13 to 15 cents per kilowatt‑hour when utilities and taxes are included.
Oil also saw a sharp rally. A barrel of North Sea Brent was trading at $113.80 on Thursday at 9 a.m. German time, up 6 % from the previous day’s close.
“Now the 23,000 mark is back in focus for the DAX” said Thomas Altmann of QC Partners. “The index briefly slipped below it last week and is now trading in a zone that was already reached before the tariff sale last year. Investors in the DAX would already be a full year without a positive return”.
After the Fed’s interest‑rate decision, the ECB will be the next authority to address. “Much as yesterday with the Fed, the focus will be on the statement and the press conference” Altmann noted. “An interest‑rate change is unlikely today, and the ECB will probably offer a similarly vague stance on the effects of the Iran conflict as the Fed did”.
