Business & Finance

DAX 40 Drops 0.45% to 25,864.62 Amid Iran Strike Reports and Software Weakness

By Fabrice Beaux

The German benchmark index, the DAX 40, closed Tuesday, 3 November 2026, at 25,864.62 points, down 116.47 points or 0.45% from Monday’s close of 25,981.09. The index had fallen 1.2% to about 25,677 during the session before recovering, but it failed to stay above the 26,000 level it had briefly reached in late October.

The decline was driven by several factors. Early‑morning oil prices rose after reports of new U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, including a strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, which was confirmed by President Donald Trump. The rise in oil prices, combined with fears of a new military escalation in the Iran war and uncertainty over the U.S. midterm elections, weighed on the market. In the afternoon, oil prices eased, with Brent settling 1% lower at $103.60 a barrel, its lowest close since early October, but rising bond yields – the 10‑year Bund yield was about 3.33% – continued to exert pressure.

Software stocks were the weakest part of the German market. SAP, the index’s most valuable company, closed 1.8% lower after trading as much as 3% lower earlier in the day, amid a global technology sell‑off and a heavy share‑price fall at a U.S. software peer. Other German software names, such as Nemetschek, also traded lower, and online fashion retailer Zalando was among the notable decliners.

Bayer was a bright spot, gaining after raising its 2026 profit outlook and reporting strong quarterly results.

Germany’s export‑oriented companies are sensitive to U.S. trade policy, so investors are closely watching the U.S. midterm elections. The results, which will be announced overnight, are expected to influence the market on Wednesday. The DAX faces technical resistance at 26,000 and support near 25,680, the intraday low.

In other markets, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.14% to 10,638.43, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.34% to 8,020.31, and Italy’s FTSE MIB was virtually unchanged at 49,941.83. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.36% to 7,568.92, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.83% to 25,372.01, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38% to 51,786.72. In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite fell about 0.6% as Shopify tumbled after its results. In Asia, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.57% to 23,525.97, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.82% to 3,608.10, India’s BSE SENSEX jumped 1.62% to 76,917.85, and Tokyo was closed for the Culture Day public holiday, leaving the Nikkei 225 at Monday’s close of 63,081.86.