FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The DAX is expected to start the short trading week before Christmas with little change. Broker IG estimated the German benchmark index at 24,265 points about two hours before the opening on Monday, which is 0.1 percent below its Friday close. Since major investors have already largely closed their books for 2025, overall movement is likely to be minimal. However, things could look different for individual stocks, as particularly with low trading volumes, especially among second- and third-tier shares, larger price swings are possible.
At the end of last week, the DAX, buoyed by a key interest rate cut in the US and US inflation data, reclaimed the psychologically important 24,000-point mark. A decline in US inflation underpinned expectations for further interest rate cuts in 2026. In addition, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its policy rate unchanged, meaning that the public sector and companies will continue to benefit from relatively low interest rates as the eurozone heads into 2026, a year associated with hopes of economic recovery.
There is still no real progress toward ending Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. While US special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed satisfaction with his talks with the Russian delegation following negotiations in Miami, no breakthrough was reported.
Away from global events, Monday brings numerous changes to the DAX family. The stock market newcomers Aumovio and TKMS will be added to the MDax, while Gerresheimer and Hellofresh will be relegated to the SDax small-cap index.
In addition to the pharmaceutical packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer and meal kit provider Hellofresh, the SDax will now also include prosthetics manufacturer Ottobock, toy company Tonies, biofuel producer Verbio, and PSI Software.
Leaving the SDax are LPKF, Stratec, Thyssenkrupp Nucera, Formycon, Procredit, and Amadeus Fire. There are no changes in the leading DAX index./mis/zb
