German Market Turns Weak After Early Upmove

(RTTNews) - After a flat start and a subsequent move up north, the German stock market's benchmark index DAX slipped into negative territory on Wednesday with investors digesting corporate earnings news and looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the day.

Joint strikes in Iraq by the United States and Saudi Arabia, targeting Iran-backed militias, raised concerns about a prolonged war in the Middle East.

The DAX, which climbed to 25,560.39 and dropped to 25,339.80 subsequently, was down 130.65 or 0.51% at 25,361.95 at noon.

Deutsche Bank shares moved up over 5% thanks to the lender reporting a record second-quarter profit. Despite coming off early highs, the stock remained about 3.5% up a little while ago. The bank reported net income of $1.91 billion in its second quarter. Earnings per share came in at 66 cents. The bank posted revenue of $17.53 billion in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $9.86 billion, which topped forecasts.

Chemicals major BASF climbed 2.5% after reporting significantly higher profit in its second quarter, benefited mainly by a sale gain, as well as stronger prices and higher volumes. The firm maintained the recently upgraded fiscal 2026 outlook.

Separately, the company announced up to 1.0 billion euros share buyback program, which is scheduled to start in August 2026 and be concluded by the end of April 2027.

RWE gained nearly 2.5%. Fresenius Medical Care, Brenntag, Scout24, Hochtief and Siemens Energy gained 0.7%-1.2%.

Zalando, Rheinmetall, Munich RE, Hannover RE, Vonovia, Deutsche Telekom, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, SAP, Alianz and Beiersdorf lost 1%-2.5%.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed Germany's import prices rose 6.1% yoy in June, easing from May's 6.8%, which had marked the strongest gain since December 2022. On monthly basis, import prices slipped 0.7%, reversing May's 0.7% rise and signaling the first monthly drop since December.