DAX Gains 0.4% As Lower Oil Prices Boost Sentiment

(RTTNews) - German stocks climbed higher in cautious trade Monday morning as lower oil prices amid slightly easing geopolitical tensions aided sentiment. Data showing an unexpected drop in Germany's retail sales in the month of September limited market's upside.

Oil prices fell sharply as ongoing discussions involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators have raised hopes of possible breakthrough that could ease supply concerns and improve the outlook for global energy markets.

Traders were also reacting to reports suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to give diplomacy with Iran more time before resuming strikes.

Brent crude front-month futures fell to $108,75 a barrel, down $4.68 or 4.13% from previous close.

The benchmark DAX was up 104.04 points or 0.4% at $25,922.25 about a quarter before noon.

Shares of healthcare group Fresenius moved up 2.5% after the company signed an exclusive biosimilars development agreement with China's WuXi Biologics.

Heidelberg Materials climbed 2.1%. Symrise and Infineon Technologies gained 1.85% and 1.7%, respectively.

Siemens Energy, Siemens, Siemens Healthineers, Henkel, Commerzbank, Hochtief, Fresenius Medical Care and Deutsche Bank advanced 1%-1.35%. Beiersdorf and MTU Aero Engines also moved notably higher.

Deutsche Boerse drifted lower by 1.8%. Bayer dropped 1.5%, while RWE, Daimler Truck HOlding, Deutsche Boerse, Merck and SAP shed 0.5%-0.9%.

Data from Destatis showed retail sales in German dropped 2% on a monthly basis in September, in contrast to the 1.2% increase seen in August. Sales were forecast to grow 0.4%. On a yearly basis, the decline in retail sales deepened to 2.3% from 0.3% in the prior month.

Final data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global Germany Manufacturing PMI was confirmed at 54.2 in October, the second-highest for almost four-and-a-half years, just behind August's recent peak, and compared to 53.9 in September.