DAX Up Nearly 0.5% As Stocks Recover After Weak Start

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent drop to lower levels, the German market recovered and moved into positive territory Wednesday morning, amid some relief over tariffs after the U.S. enabled patients to access discounted prescription drugs through a new federal platform.

The early weakness was due to the government shutdown in the U.S. following the Senate failing to pass a short-term spending bill.

The benchmark DAX was up 107.50 points or 0.45% at 23,987.13 a little while ago. The index had slipped to 23,741.00 earlier in the session.

Merck is gaining 6.5%, buoyed by an announcement from the company that its Phase 3 HYPERION trial for its drug, WINREVAIR, has yielded positive results.

Brenntag, Siemens Energy and Adidas are up 2.5 to 2.75%. Siemens Healthineers is gaining nearly 2%. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Zalando, Bayer, Porsche Automobil Holding, Qiagen, Siemens, Henkel and Symrise are up 1 to 1.8%.

Rheinmetall is declining by about 2.5%. Fresenius, MTU Aero Engines and Scout24 are down 0.8 to 1.25%. SAP is down with a modest loss.

On the economic front, data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 49.5 in September 2025 from a preliminary of 48.5, and compared to 49.8 in August, indicating nearly stagnant conditions in the manufacturing sector.

Flash estimate from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation accelerated in September on services and food prices. Inflation rose to 2.2% in September, in line with forecast, from 2% in August. Meanwhile, core inflation held steady at 2.3%.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices edged up 0.1% in September.