The DAX Index Opens 0.22% Lower

The DAX 40 edged lower to trade below 26,000 on Monday, as investors remained cautious amid escalating Middle East tensions and ahead of this week’s key ECB decision. Markets also digested the implications of the AfD’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt, which dealt a major blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU. Meanwhile, the ECB is widely expected to raise rates by 25 bps to 2.5% on Thursday. With Eurozone inflation already above 3% and well above the ECB’s 2% target, the bigger market question is whether Christine Lagarde signals that further tightening could be needed. Qiagen NV and SAP posted the biggest losses among stocks, falling 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. Vonovia dropped 2% after Goldman Sachs cut its rating from Buy to Neutral and slashed its price target from €29.50 to €21.20, signaling a more cautious view on the property group’s outlook. On the flip side, chipmaker Infineon Technologies (3.2%) and AI-related stocks Siemens Energy (2.3%) and Hochtief (2%) stood out.

The DAX Index is falling 57 points. Losses were driven by Qiagen NV (-2.35%), Vonovia (-2.25%) and Munich RE (-1.90%). Biggest rises came from Infineon (3.17%), RWE (2.29%) and Siemens Energy (2.06%).

The DAX Index went up by 43 points or 0.17 percent on Friday to close at 26046 points. The rise was led by Volkswagen (6.78%), Porsche Automobil (3.96%) and Zalando (2.89%). On the downside, the weakerst performers were Rheinmetall (-3.19%), Fresenius (-1.35%) and Merck (-1.25%).