FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Statements by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) about a future billion-euro leeway to increase the defense budget further boosted the shares of German defense companies on Tuesday. Rheinmetall as well as Hensoldt and Renk continued their record run.

Rheinmetall rose to 535.60 euros in the Dax. Most recently, the leading index, which was hardly changed, was up 1.6 percent to 529.20 euros. With a gain of around 85% since the beginning of the year, the share of the defense and automotive supplier remains the undisputed best-performing DAX share. The share price had already risen by more than 50 percent in 2023, having doubled in the previous year.

The shares of defense electronics manufacturer Hensoldt rose to a record high of EUR 44.58 in the MDax on Tuesday morning before profit-taking set in. The shares recently fell by 0.1 percent to EUR 43.40, representing a gain of 76.5 percent in the year to date.

Outside the Dax family, which consists of the leading index Dax, MDax, SDax and TecDax, the shares of newcomer Renk gained 4.8 percent to 38.61 euros. They had also reached their highest level to date in the morning.

Finance Minister Lindner sees room for up to nine billion euros in the federal budget from 2028 to increase the defense budget. Lindner also said that the NATO target in the federal budget would be achieved in all coming years.

The reasons for the enormous jump in the prices of shares in the defense sector are the increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide. The main trigger was Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, a turning point in European armaments and defense policy has been underway. Russia is also classified as a security threat by Germany, and there are warnings that Vladimir Putin could also attack other European states. The declared aim of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is to make the Bundeswehr "fit for war." /ck/ajx/jha/