The German stock market started the day hardly changed. In the morning, the DAX was trading at the previous day's level. Yesterday, the leading German index rose by 0.7 percent to 25,590 points.
The newly awakened confidence in artificial intelligence (AI) is helping: In South Korea, chip manufacturer SK Hynix has reported record profits. The provider of high-performance chips for AI memory increased its quarterly earnings more than sevenfold. The group assumes that demand will continue to exceed supply until 2030.
This boosted the markets in Asia. The South Korean Kospi gained 6.6 percent, the Japanese Nikkei 1.1 percent.
American technology stocks had already recovered by 1.2 percent on the Nasdaq. A series of financing announcements, such as those from Meta, helped. The planned IPO of the AI developer Anthropic has also given the industry new impetus.
Disturbance comes from the oil market. There, rumors about planned new attacks by the USA and Israel on Iran after November 3rd are causing prices to rise. Brent North Sea oil costs over $111 per barrel (159 liters) again.
Deutsche Bank's pleasing balance sheet also supports the DAX. Deutsche Bank continued its record course in the third quarter and exceeded expectations. The Frankfurt financial institution posted a profit after taxes of around 1.9 billion euros from July to September. That's around two percent more than a year ago. For the year as a whole, the DAX group could now even exceed the targeted earnings level of 33 billion euros, the bank also announced.
BASF unexpectedly increased its earnings significantly in the third quarter thanks to higher prices and slightly increased volumes. The adjusted operating result (Ebitda) rose by 15 percent to 1.64 billion euros. Sales climbed by 14 percent to almost 16.4 billion euros. In view of the strong development, the group again raised its annual targets: for 2026, BASF is now targeting adjusted earnings of between 7.4 and 7.8 billion euros, after previously 6.9 to 7.7 billion euros. The share price nevertheless drifted into the red.
Mercedes-Benz shares are little changed after yesterday's losses. The Stuttgart car manufacturer has presented its final quarterly figures. Yesterday the group had already lowered its profit forecast for this year with reference to the weak Chinese business and rising costs. Today, CEO Ola Källenius announced that the company is rethinking its China strategy.
The sharp fall in Thyssenkrupp's share price is of an optical nature: as of today, the materials trader tk accelis, which was spun off from the industrial group, has been listed on the stock exchange. For every 20 Thyssenkrupp shares, shareholders were given one share in the subsidiary. Thyssenkrupp retains the majority of the materials division through a holding company.
The biggest loser in the DAX in early trading is Symrise. The stock had had a good run recently. In an initial reaction, a trader described the company's 2026 profitability targets as cautious. The manufacturer of fragrances and flavorings sees the operating margin (adjusted Ebitda) in the lower half of the target range of 21.5 to 22.5 percent. The consensus estimate is 21.9 percent. In the third quarter, Symrise grew more than expected.
The fund company DWS surprisingly collected more money from investors in the summer than ever before in a quarter. The bottom line is that the DWS funds received 30.9 billion euros in fresh money from July to September, as the Deutsche Bank subsidiary announced. However, year-on-year earnings and profits did not increase nearly as much as analysts expected on average.
The AI boom is facing its next acid test this evening. After the US stock market closes, the technology companies Alphabet and Microsoft publish their quarterly reports.
Investors are also looking at today's interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The monetary authorities are likely to leave the key interest rate unchanged. However, they are likely to provide indications of an interest rate increase in December.
