The Dax index opened Thursday’s trading session with gains, reflecting a positive sentiment amongst investors. By 9:30 am local time, the leading index was calculated at approximately 24,465 points, representing a 0.9 percent increase from the previous day’s closing level. Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom and Siemens Healthineers led the performance, followed by Infineon, Vonovia and MTU.
Market analysts suggest investors are largely factoring in the recently agreed upon trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. The accord between Japan and the U.S. is being viewed as a potential template. However, Andreas Lipkow, a market expert, noted that replicating that agreement entirely will be challenging due to the significantly more complex and interconnected economic relationships between Europe and the United States compared to those between Japan and the U.S. He highlighted that only certain aspects, particularly those relating to the automotive sector and mechanical engineering, are directly transferable.
Investor attention is also focused on upcoming quarterly results from key companies, including Tesla, Alphabet and Deutsche Bank. The latter, Germany’s largest financial institution, reported strong performance for the first half of the year, exceeding expectations with its financial figures.
Despite the early gains, Lipkow cautioned that sustaining a move above the 24,500-point mark for the Dax will be difficult. He expressed concern that potential disagreements between the U.S. and the EU during the detailed implementation of the trade agreement could still arise. Consequently, investors are expected to maintain a degree of caution, despite the generally upbeat mood in the stock markets.
The euro weakened slightly on Thursday morning, trading at $1.1765, equivalent to €0.8500 per dollar.
Meanwhile, oil prices saw an increase, with a barrel of Brent North Sea crude costing $68.98 at approximately 9 am local time, a rise of 47 cents or 0.7 percent compared to the end of the previous trading day.
