DAX Notably Higher As Drop In Oil Prices Lifts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - Germany's equity benchmark is up in positive territory on Wednesday, gaining for a third straight session. A drop in oil prices is aiding sentiment, although the raging war in the Middle East continues to deter investors from indulging in any big positive moves.

Oil prices have dropped following Iran reaching an agreement to resume exports via Turkey. Additionally, Iraqi and Kurdish authorities agreed to resume oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port, offering some relief to investors worried about supply disruptions caused by the escalating U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

Sill the confirmation from Iran's supreme national security council that their chief Ali Larijani has been killed, and continuing strikes in the Middle East render the mood a bit cautious.

Meanwhile, investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) are scheduled to make their policy announcements tomorrow.

The DAX was up 178.31 or 0.75% at 23,899.07 at noon. The index had climbed to 23,957.22 earlier.

Commerzbank is up nearly 6% and Siemens Energy is gaining 5.4%. Heidelberg Materials is rising by about 4.3% thanks to a rating upgrade by Morgan Stanley. Deutsche Post is moving up 2.3%.

Gea Group, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Bank and Siemens are up 1.5%-2%, while Rheinmetall, Beiersdorf, Volkswagen, Vonovia, Allianz, Porsche Automobil Holding, Infineon Technologies, Fresenius, Mercedez-Benz, Daimler Truck Holding and Qiagen are gaining 0.6%-1.1%.

Among the losers, Deutsche Telekom is down 2.3% and Fresenius Medical Care is declining nearly 2%. RWE is down 1.4%, wile Hannover Re, Merck, Bayer, E.ON and Zalando are down 0.4%-0.7%.

Meal kit company HelloFresh is down nearly 17% after it reported weaker than expected fourth-quarter core earnings and forecast lower profit in 2026. In fiscal 2025, loss attributable to owners of the Company was 92.6 million euros, narrower than loss of 136.4 million euros last year.

Looking ahead for the 2026 financial year, HelloFresh expects a decrease in revenue on a constant currency basis of around 3 percent to 6 percent.

In economic news, Eurozone inflation increased in February, as initially estimated, driven by faster service sector price growth and moderated energy cost decline, final data from Eurostat showed.

The harmonized index of consumer prices registered an annual increase of 1.9% after rising 1.7% in January. The rate came in line with the estimate published on March 3.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco increased to 2.4%, as estimated, from 2.2% a month ago.