DAX Modestly Higher On Fed Rate Cut Hopes; Auto Stocks Move Up

(RTTNews) - German stocks are gaining some ground in positive territory on Thursday amid hopes about more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve after the central bank's minutes showed the policymakers are seemingly in favour of further reductions.

Investors are also closely following the developments on the geopolitical front, tracking news about the political situation in France, and the Gaza peace plan.

The benchmark DAX, which advanced to 24,719.12 earlier in the session, was up 53.72 points or 0.22% at 24,677.31 a little while ago.

BMW, which fell sharply in the previous session after a profit warning, has gained about 1.75%. Daimler Truck Holding, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are up 1 to 1.2%. Porsche Automobil Holding is advancing nearly 0.8%.

Bayer is rising nearly 2.5%. Heidelberg Materials, Adidas, Siemens, Fresenius Medical Care, Qiagen, RWE and Symrise are also up with notable gains.

Meanwhile, Zalando, Hannover Rueck, Beiersdorf and GEA Group are dwn 1.2 to 1.7%. Rheinmetall, Munich RE, Infineon Technologies and Commerzbank are down with modest losses.

Gerresheimer is plunging more than 14% after the packaging and medical equipment maker cut its 2025 guidance for the third time this year.

Germany's exports declined unexpectedly and imports dropped more than forecast in August, data from Destatis revealed. Exports dropped 0.5% in August from July, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.3%. This followed a decline of 0.2% in July.

At the same time, the decline in imports worsened to 1.3% from 0.7%. The pace of fall was also sharper than the forecast of 0.5%.

The trade surplus increased to EUR 17.2 billion from EUR 16.3 billion in July. The surplus was expected to fall to EUR 15.1 billion.

On a yearly basis, exports logged a decrease of 3.9% after rising 1.4% and imports rose at a slower pace of 1% following July's 4.4% increase.