European markets experienced a subdued trading session on Friday, with the DAX index slipping into negative territory by midday. The benchmark index was calculated at approximately 23,615 points around 12:30 pm, representing a decrease of 0.2 percent compared to Thursday’s closing level.
Zalando, Infineon and Deutsche Börse recorded the lowest performance among the listed companies. In contrast, Airbus, Commerzbank and Continental shares demonstrated limited gains, acting as the few bright spots.
Investor attention was keenly focused on a phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Discussions were anticipated to center on the ongoing trade tariffs imposed by both nations, as well as the prospective agreement regarding the future of the Chinese video platform TikTok.
The European currency weakened throughout Friday afternoon, trading at $1.1760 per euro. Consequently, the US dollar was valued at €0.8503.
Gold prices saw an upward trajectory, reaching $3,658 per fine ounce in the afternoon, a 0.4 percent increase. This translates to a price of €100.01 per gram.
Conversely, crude oil prices declined. A barrel of Brent North Sea crude was priced at $66.92 around midday, a decrease of 52 cents or 0.8 percent compared to the previous trading day’s closing value.
