DAX Moves Lower

The DAX 40 edged lower to around 26,200 on Wednesday, reversing modest gains in the prior day, as investors turned more cautious ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report and the start of the central bankers’ meeting in Jackson Hole on Thursday. Meanwhile, revived hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran-Oman talks eased inflation concerns, sending oil prices and bond yields lower. Among stocks, software giant SAP dropped over 3%, making it the worst performer, after UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, citing slow progress in agency AI and weaker cloud backlog growth. Other top decliners included Scout24, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens Energy, Rheinmetall, Volkswagen and Daimler Truck, falling between 0.8% and 1.4%. On the upside, Qiagen NV shares rose 2% on reports that the company is in talks with EQT and KKR over a potential €50-per-share sale.

The DAX Index is dropping 33 points. Leading the losses are SAP (-3.87%), Siemens Energy (-1.01%) and Porsche Automobil (-0.82%). Top gainers were HeidelbergCement (3.01%), Deutsche Bank (1.78%) and Qiagen NV (1.62%).

The DAX 40 closed about 0.6% firmer at 26,266 on Tuesday, the highest in over a week, amid easing Middle East concerns and as technology stocks recovered ahead of the highly anticipated Nvidia earnings report. Positive domestic GDP and business confidence data also boosted sentiment. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided few details on potential measures to increase pressure on Iran, while speculation over a possible return of US officials to negotiations raised hopes for renewed diplomatic engagement. Industrials, tech and utilities led sectoral gains. Among individual stocks, Scout24 led the way, climbing 4.5%, followed by Siemens Energy (3.2%). The German energy technology company gained following reports that it is working with Goldman Sachs ahead of potential offers for a majority stake in its steam turbine business. Other top performers included Zalando, Infineon Technologies, Siemens, Bayer, RWE and Heidelberg Materials, rising between 1.6% and 2.1%.