The DAX opened on Wednesday with modest losses. By 9:30 a.m., the German benchmark was calculated at roughly 24,765 points-0.1 % below the previous day’s closing level. The strongest performers were BASF, Mercedes‑Benz and Deutsche Telekom, while the lowest were Heidelberg Materials, Scout24 and Rheinmetall.
Thomas Altmann of QC Partners explained that the U.S. shoot‑down of an Iranian drone had already rattled Wall Street last night and that political risk remains high. “Investors should be prepared for spontaneous, increasing volatility” he said. “The recent shoot‑down has brought the precious‑metal safe haven back into play and has pushed oil prices up again” he added, noting that Iran holds the world’s third‑largest oil reserves.
Altmann also pointed out that the DAX’s trading volume yesterday was the highest of the year so far. He believes this was largely driven by profit‑taking after the index briefly crossed the 25,000‑point threshold. “There are still too few long‑term buyers willing to keep the DAX sustainably above 25,000” he remarked. “Instead, declines are bought, while recoveries are sold off quickly. It’s a classic trader‑market environment”.
On the currency front, the euro edged slightly stronger in the morning. One euro was worth 1.1831 U.S. dollars, and one U.S. dollar traded at 0.8452 euros.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose. At around 9:00 a.m. German time, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude traded at $67.61, up 28 cents-or 0.4 %-from the previous day’s close.
