Following a somewhat lacklustre beginning, German equities rebounded and entered positive territory on Friday, buoyed by a decline in oil prices stemming from reports that the U.S. and Iran have reached an agreement to extend their ceasefire by sixty days. Under the terms of the tentative agreement, subject to final approval from U.S. President Donald Trump, Iran would be prohibited from imposing tolls on vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would progressively ease its maritime blockade on Iranian ports.

Brent crude oil futures experienced a decline, reaching approximately $90.70 per barrel before rebounding to $91.05, reflecting a decrease of about 1.8% from the prior close. The benchmark DAX, which slipped to 25,079.64 earlier in the session, climbed to 25,203.93 before easing to 25,165.74, up 63.13 points or 0.25% from the previous close.

• Zalando experienced an increase of 2.75%. Heidelberg Materials experienced an increase of 2.3%, whereas MTU Aero Engines and Continental saw gains of 2% and 1.85%, respectively.
• Scout24, Adidas, Infineon Technologies, Merck, Qiagen, Beiersdorf, Henkel, Porsche Automobil Holdings, Brenntag, Fresenius Medical Care, Volkswagen, Gea Group, and Siemens Healthineers experienced an increase in value ranging from 1% to 1.5%.
• Bayer experienced a decline of 2.7%, Siemens Energy saw a reduction of 1.9%, and Deutsche Bank recorded a loss of 1.7%.
• Deutsche Boerse, Siemens, and RWE experienced slight declines.

In economic news, Germany’s import prices rose at the quickest rate since early 2023 in April, driven by significant increases in energy and intermediate goods prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, according to data from Destatis. Import prices increased by 5.3% year-on-year in April, following a rise of 2.3% in the preceding month. This represented the swiftest expansion since January 2023 and also indicated a second successive increase. On a monthly basis, import prices increased by 1.2%, a deceleration from the 3.6% rise observed in the previous month.

In April, export prices experienced an annual increase of 2.9%, marking the most significant rise since March 2023. This was succeeded by the 1.5% increase in March. In the most recent month, export prices experienced an increase of 0.8%. Germany’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 6.3% in May, a decline from April’s nearly six-year high of 6.4%, marginally surpassing market expectations, according to data from the Federal Employment Agency.