The DAX opened the trading day with gains. By 9:30 a.m., the leading index was calculated at approximately 24,910 points, representing a 0.5 percent increase over the previous day’s closing level. At the top of the gainers list were SAP, Scout24, and Heidelberg Materials, while Infineon, RWE, and Eon were among the laggards.
According to Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, the European markets are expected to show a weaker trend today. He noted that participants have ignored warning signs for too long and are now beginning to face harsh reality. The conflict in Iran is ongoing, and negotiations have stalled once again. Furthermore, high energy prices continue to burden consumer sentiment and are bringing the risk of a cycle of interest rate increases back into the financial markets.
Lipkow added that the previous support provided by the massive rush into AI and semiconductor stocks is weakening, thereby revealing the true extent of the partial overvaluation in those sectors. He suggested that at best, investors may be slowly moving into the summer break, providing the stock markets time to consolidate. However, he also warned that there is a definite possibility of a short-term, sharper correction across international stock markets, which could quickly correct the current extreme euphoria.
In parallel market movements, the European common currency was slightly stronger this Thursday morning: one Euro was worth 1.1606 US dollars, meaning the dollar traded at 0.8616 Euros. Meanwhile, oil prices fell, with a barrel of North Sea Brent crude costing 96.82 US dollars at 9 a.m. German time-a decrease of 1.0 percent, or 99 cents, from the close of the previous trading day.
