Stock market: Dax gains, RTL share price rally

The German stock market is likely to close a strong week on Friday. This morning, the DAX closed up 0.87 percent at 23,855 points. The leading German index thus reached its highest level since mid-June and extended its weekly gain to about 2 percent. The MDAX gained 0.16 percent to 30,149 points on Friday, while the Eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 rose more significantly, rising 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East has receded somewhat into the background, and investors are currently putting aside fears surrounding tariff disputes. Instead, the focus is once again on the megatrend of artificial intelligence, NATO's spending targets, and Germany's infrastructure plans, which also cost billions.

Added to this is the issue of monetary policy, as according to a press report, US President Donald Trump (79) could make a succession plan for the US Federal Reserve Chairman well before the end of Jerome Powell's (72) term. Investors have therefore speculated that a so-called shadow chairman will be created. According to foreign exchange expert Michael Pfister of Commerzbank, this would also increase the likelihood of earlier interest rate cuts.

The RTL Group's acquisition of the pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland attracted investors. The media group's share price rose by around 13 percent to €35.40. With the acquisition, Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe makes RTL the number three in the German streaming market. Read the background to the deal here.

It was also clearly noticeable that Nike boosted the shares of Adidas and Puma . Their prices rose by 3.9 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, after the US competitor's quarterly report boosted its share price after hours. Nike shares rose by as much as 11 percent, according to traders, in hopes that sales growth had reached a low point.

Profit-taking was also evident in the defense sector, as evidenced by the shares of Rheinmetall , Renk , and Hensoldt . They all lost more than 3.6 percent after several positive trading days, marked by the NATO agreement on more ambitious spending targets. Rheinmetall recovered from its highs since the beginning of June. They lacked the fresh momentum to approach the previous record.

On Thursday, the second leading index on the US stock market was already close to a record high. After the Nasdaq 100 technology index had already begun its record run the previous day, the broad-based S&P 500 was now very close to a record high. It missed the peak by just a single point. The S&P 500 closed 0.80 percent higher at 6,141 points.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index set another record, closing 0.94 percent higher at 22,447 points on Thursday. In addition to the AI ​​hype that continues to dominate tech stocks, Micron 's optimistic outlook was well received by the market, even though Micron shares themselves suffered some of their recent price rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average still has a bit further to go on its way to reaching its all-time high. Although the leading Wall Street index gained 0.94 percent to 43,386 points on Thursday, it is still nearly 1,700 points short of its all-time high.

Oil prices were slightly higher on Friday. On the commodity market, Brent crude oil from the North Sea rose 0.5 percent to $68.07 per barrel (159 liters). US WTI crude oil was up 0.5 percent at $65.59.

The market cited statements by US President Trump, who told reporters that US sanctions against companies in China had done little to curb Iranian oil shipments to China. The world's second-largest economy is a major consumer of crude oil.

In addition, the recent development of oil reserves in the US has supported oil market prices, it added. The previous day, the US government reported that US crude oil inventories had fallen for the fifth consecutive week. Declining oil reserves in the world's largest economy typically support oil prices.