The German DAX continued its slide into negative territory on Thursday afternoon, following a weak start to trading. As of approximately 12:35 PM, the leading index was calculated at around 24,806 points, representing a decrease of 1.2 percent from the previous day’s closing level. At midday, Infineon, Fresenius, and Hochtief were positioned at the bottom of the stock list, while other companies, including Rheinmetall, SAP, and Scout24, managed to defy the prevailing downward trend.
Market analyst Andreas Lipkow of CMC Markets commented on the prevailing sentiment, noting that investors are increasingly weighing risk clusters in their decision-making and are avoiding stocks in cyclical industries and technology sectors. He pointed to the serious escalation of the situation in Iran and the anticipated military actions by the U.S., which are already driving fears of higher energy prices and inflation.
Furthermore, Lipkow stated that the quarterly figures from Samsung Electronics are insufficient to revitalize the semiconductor industry, leading to profit-taking in chip stocks. Adding to the pressure, rising yields on government bonds are increasingly dampening market sentiment. He noted that yesterday’s U.S. Treasury bond auction saw higher-than-expected demand, yet this continues to fuel doubts regarding the current valuation of U.S. stocks.
In other market segments, the European common currency weakened slightly on Thursday afternoon, with the Euro costing 1.1181 U.S. dollars, and the dollar exchanging at 0.8944 Euros. The price of gold edged higher, reaching $4,117 per fine ounce in the afternoon (an increase of 0.2 percent), corresponding to 118.39 Euros per gram. Meanwhile, the oil price saw a strong increase; the price for one barrel of Brent North Sea crude was $104.40 around 12 PM German time, marking a 4.2 percent rise over the close of the previous trading day.
