FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - At the end of the last full trading week before Christmas, investors on the German stock market once again exercised cautious optimism. Trading was calm, with the major expiration day on the derivatives exchanges leaving hardly any traces. Large institutional investors, in particular, have likely already closed their books for 2025.
The DAX closed on Friday at 24,288.40 points, up 0.4 percent from the previous day. This kept it well above the psychologically important 24,000-point mark, which it had surpassed on Thursday, buoyed by an interest rate cut in the US and US inflation data. The latter reinforced expectations of further rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. For 2025, Germany's leading index is showing an impressive gain of 22 percent on the books.
The MDAX of mid-cap stocks rose 0.3 percent on Friday to 30,361.46 points. The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index for the eurozone, also gained 0.3 percent.
Among individual stocks, shares of German sportswear companies Adidas and Puma were in focus after US competitor Nike issued an outlook that was met with disappointment. Adidas shares fell by 1.2 percent, while Puma dropped 3.5 percent. However, Nike is mainly struggling with self-inflicted problems and continues to face sluggish growth in China as well as with its Converse brand. Nike shares in New York recently lost nearly ten percent in value./mis/nas
