Iran negotiations briefly support DAX, Anthropic is aiming for a market value of $2 trillion

New hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Iran conflict continue to support the German stock market. In the morning, Iran's foreign minister spoke of ongoing negotiations with the USA, this time about the Gulf state of Qatar.

The DAX then turned upwards while oil prices fell. By the close of trading, however, prices had collapsed again and the leading German index closed with a modest increase of 0.1 percent at 25,399 points. At the beginning of the week, the DAX ended trading slightly weaker at 25,374 points.

“In the absence of stimulus, the DAX is currently just standing still,” commented Jochen Stanzl, market observer at Consorsbank. "While oil prices are rising again, there is still hope for a diplomatic agreement. The reasons for and the reasons against buying shares are currently more or less canceling each other out."

In the morning, the oil price for North Sea Brent was still above $100 per barrel, but then fell back to below $97. However, there was no concrete progress in negotiations in the Iran conflict. Therefore, the US stock exchanges started the day again with slight discounts.

The AI ​​developer Anthropic is aiming for a market capitalization of more than two trillion dollars in its planned US IPO. This emerges from the issue prospectus, which the Reuters news agency was able to see. Anthropic would thus end up in seventh place in the ranking of the most valuable companies on the stock market.

However, Anthropic is buying its rapid growth with high losses. Last year, sales rose to around $4.6 billion, but losses climbed to a similar extent to $42 billion. The lion's share of this is due to write-downs in connection with previous financing rounds. The operating loss was still eight billion dollars.

One reason: the rising costs of computing capacity needed to train and operate AI. At the same time, out-of-control AI models that penetrate third-party IT systems repeatedly make headlines. This has sparked a debate about whether this technology poses an existential threat to humanity. Just today, competitor OpenAI suspended its new model due to security concerns.

Evonik shares were only slightly up today. According to the Financial Times (FT), the specialty chemicals company has rejected a takeover offer from BASF. The industry leader offered 22.15 euros per Evonik paper, the FT wrote on Monday evening, citing people familiar with the matter. Evonik confirmed on Friday that BASF had approached the company without obligation. Since then, Evonik shares have increased by just over ten percent.

In the SDAX, the shares of the DIY store group Hornbach Holding were in demand for strong half-year figures. Sales climbed by six percent to 3.8 billion euros in the first six months of the 2026/27 financial year. The adjusted operating result (EBIT) increased by almost five percent to 285.6 million euros.

The main reason for this was the strong demand for seasonal products such as air conditioning units, but also items for shading and irrigation. Hornbach said that they were able to gain market share in Germany and other European countries. Despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, the group confirmed its forecast for the full year.

Defense stocks performed weakly again. Renk's losses stood out again. The gear manufacturer costs as much on the stock market again as it did in spring 2025. Yesterday, JPMorgan analyst David Perry justified a price target reduction for Renk by saying that the operating result in the third quarter could be “somewhat disappointing”. At 62 euros, he still sees 64 percent room for improvement for the share and accordingly stuck to his "overweight" recommendation. Renk wants to present his quarterly report on November 5th.