Market report: DAX starts hardly changed

The German stock index started the day hardly changed. At the start of trading, the DAX was trading at 25,303 points. On Tuesday, in the face of vague hopes for a solution to the deadlocked Iran conflict, it had almost completely shaken off its losses after temporarily falling to 25,050 points.

Initially, attacks by the Houthi militia on ships and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused oil prices to rise and unsettled the markets. Rumors about a possible compromise proposal from mediators from Qatar and Pakistan subsequently fueled hopes that the situation would calm down.

Today, investors prefer to hold back in view of the unrest in France and the persistently high energy prices. “The DAX continues to depend on the oil price and bond yields,” writes Timo Emden from broker Captrader. Investors navigated between interest rate fears, AI doubts and political and fiscal question marks.

In addition, corporate balance sheets are in focus. Above all, SpaceX: Elon Musk's space company made billions in profit in the third quarter. This improved mood in the technology sector and boosted the Asian markets - the Japanese Nikkei index rose 0.9 percent. AI-related stocks such as Infineon and Siemens Energy were also at the top of the DAX when Xetra started.

The balance sheets of other large technology companies such as SAP and Tesla are now expected after the stock market closes. Meta and IBM will also open their books. "The results are seen as a stress test for the global AI imagination and should answer the question of whether the tech giants can give the DAX's fragile recovery the necessary momentum," says Frank Sohlleder from ActivTrades.

Investors are also keeping an eye on Adidas’ securities. The sporting goods group achieved a better-than-expected third quarter and now expects more operating profit in 2026 than initially expected. The company also benefits from customs refunds from the USA.

Adidas now expects an operating result of 2.5 billion euros for the current year, the Herzogenaurach-based company announced after the stock market closed. So far, management had promised around 2.3 billion euros.

The US government's plans to realign the care of kidney patients have sent shares of Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) plummeting. The shares lost up to 4.2 percent in the morning, making them the biggest DAX loser at times. The US Department of Health and Human Services announced a strategy on Tuesday aimed at detecting kidney disease earlier, promoting home dialysis and increasing competition. The USA is by far the most important market for the Bad Homburg dialysis group.

The shares of the laboratory service provider and diagnostics group Qiagen, on the other hand, are in demand. The movement is once again being driven by a Bloomberg report about an upcoming offer from the financial investor EQT. The day before, the price of the DAX company had already risen by almost four percent, mainly thanks to a rally in the last 30 minutes of trading. At 43 euros, the shares are at their highest level since mid-February.

Netflix ended the past quarter with its weakest growth in years. Sales increased by twelve percent year-on-year to $12.9 billion. That was the lowest increase in three years - but the value was in line with analysts' expectations. The bottom line is that profits grew by 44 percent to $3.66 billion.

Elon Musk's space company SpaceX made billions in profit last quarter after a long dry spell. The main trigger was strong growth in the Internet from space and AI data centers business. The bottom line is that SpaceX posted a profit of $4.4 billion, as the company announced after the US stock market closed. Sales jumped from around $5.58 billion a year ago to $14.58 billion.

The companies Tesla and SpaceX, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, are considering a record-breaking merger. The car manufacturer and the space company had formed special committees at the request of shareholders, Musk said in a video conference on SpaceX's quarterly figures. He is not part of it due to possible conflicts of interest. There has been speculation about a merger between Tesla and SpaceX for a long time, but Musk has so far been evasive about it.

Deutsche Börse once again achieved double-digit growth in the third quarter thanks to good business with its financial market products. In addition, rising interest rates are playing into their hands. Due to the development of key interest rates and increased cash holdings, the group increased its forecast for the treasury result for 2026 by a further around 100 million euros. Accordingly, Deutsche Börse also slightly increased its targets for net revenue and operating profit.

The French supermarket chain Carrefour has lowered its forecasts for the full year due to the unrest in France. From the company's perspective, they keep customers away, undermine consumer trust and increase costs. Adjusted earnings per share are therefore only expected to remain stable or grow slightly this year, the company said. The retailer had previously expected “high single-digit growth”.

The residential real estate investor Grand City Properties has joined the much larger rival LEG Immobilien. The Luxembourg-based company, which is controlled from Berlin, has acquired additional shares in LEG and now holds 20.04 percent of the Düsseldorf housing company, Grand City Properties announced. Behind this is the strategy of GYC majority shareholder Aroundtown to get more involved in the apartment and hotel business.