The German stock index continued to slide into the red through the morning after an already weak start. By about 12:30 p.m. German time, the DAX was trading near 22,630 points, roughly 1.4 % below its previous‑day close. The top of the performance list featured Brenntag, BASF, and Henkel, while the bottom included Porsche Holding, Siemens Energy, and MTU.
“With each trading day that oil stays above $100, sentiment in the equity market deteriorates” said Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. He warned that the threat of stagflation is growing and could push Europe toward a recession. According to Lipkow, Europe’s heavy dependence on energy creates a “sandwich” scenario in which inflation and a looming slowdown both pressure corporate balance sheets. These risks are amplified by the still‑inconsistent news coming out of the Middle East, and investors are increasingly pricing them into market valuations.
The euro weakened slightly by midday. One euro was worth 1.1546 U.S. dollars, while one dollar converted to 0.8661 euros.
Oil prices surged during the same period. At around 12:00 p.m. German time, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude fetched about $106.20, up 3.9 % from the previous trading day’s close.
