Market report: DAX is likely to rise slightly before the ECB interest rate decision

Market report Despite VW's loss of billions, DAX back over 26,000 points As of: October 29, 2026 • 6:32 p.m

The major central banks are keeping their feet still for the time being - the message has spurred investors' appetite to buy, and the DAX ends the trading day in positive territory. The VW shock from the morning was also digested well.

The DAX continued its interim recovery and increased again. In the end, the leading German index closed at 26,039 points, 1.31 percent higher and thus regained the round mark of 26,000 points. It was also the fourth winning day in a row.

Yesterday the leading index closed 0.4 percent higher at 25,704 points. This represents an increase of around three percent over the course of the week so far. The MDAX of medium-sized stocks gained 1.23 percent to 30,798 points.

It was an eventful trading day. Because the company reporting season continued in full force. In addition to the flood of numbers, the focus was also on the two major central banks, the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

As expected, the ECB key interest rates remain at 2.5 percent. more

The good news from an investor's perspective: Both the ECB and the Fed have decided not to raise their key interest rates further for the time being - despite high inflation rates, both of which are above the target of 2.00 percent that both central banks are guided by.

On the other hand, the impression has become more and more solid that interest rate increases are getting closer to the end of the year if inflation rates do not weaken significantly - although there are no signs of this given the continued high energy prices. Crude oil from the reference North Sea variety Brent continued to cost almost $110 per barrel today. RoboMarkets analyst Jürgen Molnar assumes that a break today will probably not mean the end of the ECB interest rate increases.

"With the two interest rate increases in June and September, the ECB has given itself some breathing room. Now it can wait and see how prices and the economy develop in the next few weeks," commented Heiner Herkenhoff, Managing Director of the BdB Banking Association.

It was less the ECB's interest rate decision, which actually turned out to be as expected, that made the headlines - but rather the announced resignation of Christine Lagarde as head of the ECB in February 2027. The decision did not come as a surprise, as a successor can be chosen before the French presidential election in April 2027.

Before the stock market launch, Volkswagen presented the final figures for the third quarter. These showed: The crisis in the German auto industry continues: The car manufacturer posted a high loss of 5.8 billion euros. Depreciation has a particularly strong impact on the goodwill of the sports and off-road vehicle subsidiary Porsche. “The numbers don’t really shock anyone anymore,” said one trader. Ultimately, the quarterly report didn't contain much new after the warning in September.

VW suffered a loss of 5.8 billion euros in the third quarter. more

Economic update from October 29th, 2026 Antje Erhard, HR, Economic update, Tagesschau24, October 29th, 2026 • 9:00 a.m. Adidas sits on full order books Several DAX members also opened their books. Among other things, there were final quarterly figures from Adidas. The order book is extremely positive, said CEO Björn Gulden today in a conference call on the third quarter figures. Adidas shares were at the top of the DAX.

Shares in the residential construction group Vonovia, on the other hand, were at the bottom of the DAX and were among the few losers in the leading index, which includes 40 stocks. The share price fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. The reason is an uninspiring outlook - the sluggish real estate market due to high interest rates makes the Bochum company more cautious with regard to profits, among other things.

The recovery rally on the Nasdaq stock exchange that began a week ago is suffering a severe setback today. Above all, Google parent company Alphabet's flopped quarterly figures ensured that the Nasdaq 100 reversed a large part of its recent gains with a setback of 1.2 percent.

The Google parent company reported increasing investments and had slipped into the red in terms of free cash inflow. “The message is: The market rewards spending discipline and punishes investments without cash flow coverage,” summarized market analyst Jochen Stanzl from Consorsbank. Alphabet shares fell by around 13 percent - meaning that around $500 billion in market value was lost.

Although Microsoft's results were not as poorly received by investors as Alphabet's, they did not improve the negative picture in the tech industry either.

The other New York indices were also unable to escape the once again cloudy stock market situation: The Dow Jones, which is more focused on standard stocks, recently fell much less sharply by 0.25 percent.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Stock market 5:45 p.m.: Daily conclusion with DAX close | 10/29/26 | 5:59 p.m