By mid‑afternoon on Friday, the DAX had not yet settled into a clear direction after a restrained start to the trading day. Around 12:30 GMT the index stood at 24,895 points, which was roughly 0.2 % above yesterday’s closing level.
Market analyst Andreas Lipkow said the removal of the “Greenland” issue had relieved participants, but the question of which U.S. theme will next capture attention or be revived remained open. Consequently the overall tone for DAX trading was still positive, yet many market players stayed on the sidelines ahead of the weekend. “With the earnings season in Germany about to begin and the possibility of further surprises-both positive and negative-many are holding back” Lipkow added.
He noted that the purchasing‑manager indices released today for Germany and the Euro‑zone came in satisfactorily, giving further credence to the view of a potential economic rebound. Still, there is a long road ahead before the “valley of economic weeping” is finally crossed, and the United States and China are expected to play key roles.
On the currency side, the euro weakened slightly on Friday afternoon: one euro bought 1.1735 U.S. dollars, and one U.S. dollar was worth 0.8522 euros.
Gold traded lower; by late afternoon the price of a fine ounce was $4,921, down 0.3 % from earlier. That translates to 134.81 euros per gram.
Oil, meanwhile, advanced sharply. At about noon German time a barrel of North Sea‑specification Brent fetched $65.09-up 1.6 % from the previous trading day’s close.
