The DAX moved into the green area by Friday afternoon after a very sluggish start to the trading day. At about 12:30 p.m. the benchmark index stood at roughly 25,110 points, up 0.3 % from the previous close. The most active stocks were Porsche Holding, Airbus and Heidelberg Materials, while Bayer, Infineon and Zalando fell to the bottom of the list.
CMC Markets’ chief market analyst, Andreas Lipkow, said that investors in Frankfurt were largely on the sidelines, waiting for the macro‑economic data set to be released in the U.S. that afternoon. “The mood remains cautiously positive, but it is being dampened by the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran” he noted. “Concerns about a possible military intervention are also reflected in the rising oil prices and the tightening of the U.S. dollar against the euro”.
Lipkow added that in this wait‑and‑see environment, traders are turning to tried‑and‑true strategies. “Investors are using the lower price level of Airbus today to add positions” he said. The company had reported strong quarterly results but issued a more cautious outlook, which initially led to a dip in its share price. He pointed out that a similar pattern had emerged with SAP and Commerzbank stocks, where investors tended to overreact to news and then later worked to smooth out the resultant swings.
At mid‑afternoon, the euro was a touch weaker: one euro was worth 1.1762 U.S. dollars, meaning one U.S. dollar was worth 0.8502 euros. Meanwhile, oil prices fell – a barrel of Brent crude was trading at $71.36 at about 12:00 p.m. German time, down 30 cents, or 0.4 %, from the previous day’s close.
