Stock market: Dax up, BMW shares at the top of the Dax, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and VW shares up

The DAX found its way back up on Wednesday after two days of losses. However, given the muted market conditions, buying appetite remained limited. After a positive start, the German leading index maintained a gain of 0.2 percent to 23,728 points about an hour later. This puts it back in contention with the 21-day moving average, which is crucial for the short-term trend.

The MDAX index for medium-sized companies barely budged, rising 0.1 percent to 30,262 points. The Eurozone's leading index, the EuroStoxx 50, rose by 0.2 percent.

The DAX is increasingly struggling to contain the gap to the 24,000-point mark, commented analyst Jochen Stanzl of the trading house CMC Markets. The temporary euphoria following the ceasefire in the Middle East has given way to concerns about the ongoing trade war between the US and the EU. A deadline set by Donald Trump for an agreement expires on July 9. The US president recently emphasized that this deadline could be extended, but also shortened.

Shares of German automakers rose by varying degrees following US sales figures for the second quarter. DAX leader BMW rose by 2.8 percent and Mercedes-Benz by 1.9 percent. Volkswagen and its sports car subsidiary Porsche AG posted gains of 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. According to the major Swiss bank UBS, the US tariffs are apparently having less of an impact than feared. BMW's annual targets are achievable even without a tariff agreement.

The hunt for record highs by the US indices S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 took a break on Tuesday. At the start of July and the second half of the trading year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average attempted to narrow the gap to its record-high peers. With a 0.9 percent increase to 44,495 points, it was able to reduce its gap to the record to less than 600 points.

On the broader market and the Nasdaq stock exchange, issues such as the AI ​​boom and increased hopes for US interest rate cuts did not help the indices, which had performed better so far in 2025, to move further up. While the broad market S&P 500 fell only slightly by 0.1 percent to 6,198 points, the Nasdaq 100, with its technology stocks, fell by 0.9 percent to 22,478 points.

The focus was on the tax and spending bill pushed by US President Donald Trump (79), which cleared a major hurdle in the US Congress. It also caused Trump's dispute with Tesla CEO Elon Musk (54) to escalate again, and the electric car manufacturer's shares came under renewed pressure. Ultimately, Tesla shares lost 5.3 percent of their value.

Oil prices continued their stabilization the day before with small gains on Wednesday. However, the focus remains on the expected expansion of production by the OPEC+ oil alliance, which had recently weighed on prices after the easing of the Middle East crisis had already caused a significant setback.

A barrel (159 liters) of Brent crude from the North Sea for delivery in September cost $67.18 this morning, up 7 cents from the previous day. The price of a barrel of the US WTI crude for delivery in August was also only slightly changed, rising 2 cents to $65.47.

The major members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies are expected to agree on another significant production increase at their meeting on Sunday, likely by 411,000 barrels per day.