By mid‑afternoon the DAX continued to slide after a weak start to the trading day. At about 12:30 p.m. German time the index closed at roughly 24,610 points, down 0.9 percent from the previous day’s close.
SAP remains the biggest drag on the benchmark. Its shares fell more than 16 percent, pulling the DAX deep into red territory. Many other names were trading near flat or only slightly positive.
Market analyst Andreas Lipkow explained the decline: “As expected, traders are swept away by rising geopolitical tensions, high energy prices, and the strong euro against the U.S. dollar”. He added that only a surge of positive corporate earnings could have softened the outlook, but “SAP’s quarterly results are now dragging it under the wheel and adding extra pressure on the overall market”.
Lipkow noted that U.S. macro data could still shift the picture. “The U.S. pre‑market is currently trading at yesterday’s closing level” he said.
The euro was a little softer in the afternoon. One euro bought 1.1948 U.S. dollars, while one dollar exchanged for 0.8370 euros.
Gold rose noticeably. The price reached 5,515 U.S. dollars per fine ounce-a 1.8 percent gain, which translates to 148.40 euros per gram.
Brent crude also lifted sharply. At around 12:00 p.m. German time a barrel of North Sea Brent fetched 69.74 U.S. dollars, up 2 percent from the prior day’s close.
