The DAX Index Closes 0.16% Lower

The DAX Index fell 39 points or 0.16 percent on Thursday to close at 24155 points. Leading the losses are SAP (-6.11%), Qiagen NV (-4.83%) and Fresenius (-3.94%). Top gainers were Infineon (8.26%), Siemens Energy (2.45%) and Continental (2.38%).

Frankfurt's DAX 40 closed about 0.2% down at 24,181 on Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive session of decreases. Traders weighed growing US-Iran tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and the lack of progress in peace talks, while also digesting mixed corporate earnings from both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, flash PMI surveys indicated that the euro area is facing deepening economic woes from the war in the Middle East. Germany's private sector contracted for the first time since May 2025, and the most since December 2024, with businesses struggling with strong inflationary pressures. Among key movers, SAP dropped more than 6% ahead of its first-quarter 2026 earnings report, after multiple banks flagged near-term uncertainty around cloud deal timing, geopolitics, and macro-sensitive customer segments. Qiagen NV (-5.1%), Fresenius SE & Co (-3.9%) and Scout24 (-3.1%) followed closely. On the upside, Infineon Technologies climbed 6.5% following positive figures in the chip sector.

Frankfurt's DAX 40 edged down 0.6% toward 24,000 on Thursday, the fourth day of decreases, mirroring a cautious sentiment across Europe, amid the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Middle East conflict and rising energy prices. Investors also digested fresh PMI data and a batch of corporate earnings reports. Germany's private sector contracted for the first time since May 2025, and the most since December 2024, with businesses struggling with strong inflationary pressures from the Iran war. Among key movers, SAP dropped over 3% ahead of the release of its quarterly results later in the day, with investors focused on its cloud business, where growth has slowed in recent quarters. Scout24, Deutsche Bank, Qiagen NV and Fresenius SE & Co were also among the worst performers, with losses of over 2% each. On the upside, Infineon shares climbed more than 5% following strong results from rival STMicroelectronics.