Market report: DAX reaches new all-time high

The DAX continues its climb with a record high: The leading German index rose more than one percent to around 26,950 points in early trading. This means that the barometer exceeds the previous week's high of 26,692 points. On Wednesday, the DAX closed with an increase of 1.2 percent at 26,662 points.

“The new record is primarily a result of renewed confidence and a significantly increased risk appetite,” says Timo Emden, chief market analyst at CapTrader. "The new record could also act as additional fuel for stock market sentiment." According to Emden, the path to the 27,000 point mark will not be free of obstacles. “With interest rate concerns, geopolitical risks and AI doubts, a triad of possible stumbling blocks await investors.”

"The prospect that the DAX will now finally leave a one-year sideways phase in the big picture and turn into an upward trend movement is attracting investors. The markets are betting on the DAX's upward breakout," writes Jochen Stanzl from Consorsbank.

The rapid recovery in US technology stocks is also providing the current boost. There, fears of stricter AI regulation seem to have dissipated. However, it remains to be seen whether the crisis is over. Some investors can't shake their nervousness: "Everyone looks for a warning signal every day, every minute of the day and then reacts to it every day," says Thomas Martin, portfolio manager at Globalt. The mood constantly fluctuates between the assessment that AI is good or not so good.

However, there was still news after the US market closed that could dampen the joy somewhat. The shares of the most important chip manufacturer Nvidia lost around nine percent after trading. According to media reports, CEO Jensen Huang's replacement is becoming increasingly likely because he is now being accused of another extramarital affair. The group's board of directors should now discuss its future.

The DAX is getting support from the balance sheet season: today Siemens and Allianz, among others, had their books looked at. The numbers were strong. The technology group Siemens had a record financial year. In terms of incoming orders, Siemens cracked the 100 billion euro mark. Siemens is now raising the bar. Sales and earnings are expected to increase faster in the medium term than previously forecast.

Business is also going well at the insurance giant Allianz. In the first nine months of the financial year, the group achieved a record operating result of more than 14 billion euros. Allianz benefits from strong business in the asset management division.

Deutsche Bank will have to pay a fine of millions in 2023 because of problems with moving Postbank customers to a common IT platform. The financial regulator Bafin imposed a fine of eight million euros.

Specifically, in 2023, Deutsche Bank "did not take appropriate organizational precautions to immediately deal with the higher volume of customer complaints that arose from the migration of customer data," Bafin said. In addition, the bank did not immediately execute orders to transfer the securities account.