Market report: DAX likely to fall behind ahead of US midterms

The broker IG Markets estimates the leading German index 0.8 percent lower to 25,781 points before the opening of Xetra trading. At the beginning of the week, the DAX was 0.6 percent higher at 25,981 points. The 26,000 point mark is currently proving to be a high hurdle.

According to expert Salah-Eddine Bouhmidi from broker IG, investors still lacked the sustained conviction to overcome it. "Political clarity could provide the impetus for this - but geopolitical risks remain a factor of uncertainty," he points out with a view to the midterm elections in the USA.

The midterm elections will decide whether the Democrats can wrest control of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republican Party. Polls suggest Democrats will win the House of Representatives, while the outcome in the Senate is more unclear.

Many investors fear that the US will plan another attack on Iran after the elections, with dire consequences for the raw materials market and the global economy. However, Trump recently answered "no" when asked by reporters whether he would consider attacking Iran after the midterm elections. He also believes that Iran wants to reach an agreement and that such an agreement “could come about.”

“The danger of another US military strike is far from being gone,” said Thomas Altmann, portfolio manager at asset manager QC Partners. But the likelihood of this happening immediately after the midterms has decreased significantly.

The accounting season also remains a key factor for price movements. Will the AI ​​bet pay off? This is one of the questions that investors are currently most concerned about. That's why they pay particular attention to the results of US tech companies. On Monday after the US stock market closed, Apple had its books looked at.

Investors saw light and shadow. iPhone sales and total group revenues reached record levels for a September quarter. The bottom line was that more than $30 billion was left hanging. But what is traded on the stock market is primarily expectations for the future: investors reacted with disappointment to the forecast for the current quarter.

The data analysis company Palantir also presented quarterly figures. Sales rose 96 percent year-over-year to $2.3 billion in the third quarter. The bottom line was that profits grew by 49 percent to $1.13 billion.

Palantir specializes in analyzing large amounts of data and supplies, among other things, software that is used to analyze secret service and military information. Business with American government agencies grew by 96 percent to $953 million. Palantir software is used by the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon, among others, and, according to media reports, also in the Iran War.