DAX Rises Over 1% As Reports Of Possible End To Iran War Aid Sentiment

(RTTNews) - German stocks climbed higher Tuesday morning, led by gains in technology, financials and retail sectors.

The mood in the market is positive following a report in Washington post that said the Trump administration is willing to end U.S. military operations against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

EU energy ministers are meeting today to discuss a coordinated response to the volatility in oil and gas markets triggered by the conflict in Iran.

European Union governments should prepare for a "prolonged disruption" to energy markets as a result of the Iran war, the bloc's energy chief told countries' ministers on Monday. In a letter to energy ministers, EU Energy Commissioner ?Dan Jorgensen said ?governments were "encouraged to make timely preparations in anticipation of a potentially prolonged disruption".

The benchmark DAX was yo 241.87 points or 1.08% at 22,738.77 a few minutes before noon.

Rheinmetall moved up 2.75%. Deutsche Boerse, Zalando, Scout24, Adidas, MTU Aero Engines, Mercedes-Benz, SAP, Munich RE, RWE, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank gained 1%-1.5%.

Bayer, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, GEA Group, Allianz, Hannover RE, Henkel and Infineon Technologies also moved higher.

BASF drifted down 0.8%. Fresenius and Siemens Energy posted marginal losses.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed retail sales in Germany decreased 0.6% on a monthly basis in February but slower than the 1.1% fall seen in January. Sales were expected to grow 0.3%.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth slowed to 0.7% from 1% in January. Economists had forecast sales to grow at a steady pace of 1%.

In nominal terms, retail sales dropped 0.7% from January but increased 1.6% from the previous year.

A separate data from Destatis showed Germany's import prices dropped 2.3% year-on-year in February, the same rate of decrease as seen in January. The 2.3% fall was the biggest since March 2024.

On a monthly basis, import prices grew at a slower pace of 0.3% after rising 1.1% in January.

Further, data showed that export prices edged down 0.1% from a year ago, in contrast to the 0.2% rise in January. Month-on-month, export prices rose 0.1% following January's 0.9% increase.

Data from Eurostat showed euro area annual inflation climbed to 2.5% in March 2026, up from 1.9% in February and slightly below market expectations of 2.6%, according to a preliminary estimate.