On Tuesday the DAX remained directionless until midday after a relatively calm start. By roughly 12:30 pm, the index was trading at about 24,830 points, a 0.1 percent gain on the previous day. The top gainers were Vonovia, Bayer and Zalando, while the lowest performers were Qiagen, Rheinmetall and Daimler Truck.
The ZEW economic expectations for October, published earlier that morning, offered little stimulus. “In February the ZEW balance of expectations slipped slightly against expectations, and the consensus forecast was clearly below what was expected” said Ulrich Wortberg of Helaba. This came as a surprise because the similarly designed Sentix investor confidence had risen noticeably. “While the ZEW balance of outlooks has improved, the recovery in the economic outlook still appears uneven”. In this context, the Purchasing Managers’ Indexes released on Friday and the Ifo business‑climate reading scheduled for Monday should be watched closely.
The euro was a touch weaker at Tuesday midday: one euro equaled 1.1842 U.S. dollars, and one dollar was worth 0.8445 euros.
Oil prices trended slightly higher. A barrel of Brent crude fetched about $68.75 U.S. dollars around 12:00 pm German time-10 cents, or 0.2 percent, more than the previous close.
