German stocks advanced on Thursday morning, propelling the benchmark DAX to a new record high. This upward movement in the market was attributed to an improvement in risk sentiment following the Democrats’ victory in the midterm elections, which alleviated some trade concerns. Oil’s rebound from recent losses, coupled with political tensions in France, constrained the market’s potential for growth. Brent crude futures increased by 1.5% to reach 96.00 a barrel, following a significant decline of nearly 9% in the prior session, which brought prices down to a two-month low.
While Democrats’ sweeping victory in the U.S. midterm elections helped strip the risk premium out of crude, traders are weighing the risk of a further escalation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said today that two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz in two separate incidents after attempting to use unauthorized routes. The DAX, which advanced to 26,651.50, was up 63.70 points or 0.25% at 26,543.03 recently.
- Zalando experienced an increase of 3.5%. MTU Aero Engines experienced an increase of 3.2%, whereas Bayer, Heidelberg Materials, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Bank, and Daimler Truck Holding saw gains ranging from 2% to 2.7%.
- SAP, Adidas, Continental, BASF, Volkswagen, E.ON, Vonovia, Deutsche Boerse, Hochtief, Fresenius Medical Care, Siemens, RWE, Mercedes-Benz and GEA Group advanced 1%-1.8%.
- Meal-kit maker HelloFresh soared 14% after third-quarter core profit beat forecasts.
- Shares of defence group Rheinmetall declined by over 16%, impacted by the company’s revision of its 2026 outlook for the second time in three months. The group cited delays with the Boxer armored vehicle program for the downward revision in outlook.
- Commerzbank experienced a decline of 2.5% following a revision of its forecast for lending income for the current year.
- Deutsche Telekom experienced a decline of nearly 3%, even as it announced a 7.5% rise in revenue for the third quarter of 2026.
- Siemens Healthineers, Beiersdorf and Infineon Technologies shed 1.3%-1.7%.
