FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The German Dax index held steady on Tuesday as rising oil prices dampened sentiment, closing at 26,007.63 points after lingering mostly in negative territory throughout trading. Volume was thin, traders said.
Brent crude neared the round $100-a-barrel mark, while prices for U.S. benchmark WTI and European natural gas also advanced. Traders pointed to Houthi militia attacks on Saudi Arabia as a key driver; the Gulf region's largest oil producer subsequently halted output at several facilities near the Yemen border.
"The ongoing conflict in the Middle East keeps inflation fears alive," wrote Jürgen Molnar of Robomarkets, adding that higher interest rates are likely to be priced in for longer. "Oil prices remain the fever thermometer of stock markets," he said.
The MDax, tracking mid-sized firms, rose 0.43 percent to 32,544.30 points, buoyed by gains in heavyweight constituents Porsche AG and DWS.
Among individual Dax stocks, Fresenius shares led the way, climbing 3.2 percent after UBS reiterated a buy rating. Analyst Graham Doyle said concerns over the company's U.S. biosimilar business, particularly product Tyenne, were "completely overblown."
Infineon lost nearly 4 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the chipmaker, dropping it to the foot of the Dax. Analysts saw limited near-term upside for earnings expectations, though the structural opportunity from chips powering AI data centers remained attractive, they said.
In the MDax, Kion jumped 6.8 percent — its biggest gain — after Citigroup issued a buy call. Analyst Martin Wilkie expressed optimism about artificial intelligence applications in warehouse automation at the forklift manufacturer.
DWS rose 2.8 percent on a purchase recommendation from Jefferies. Analyst Laura Gris Trillo cited Germany's pension reform, growing ETF savings-plan flows, and the €500 billion infrastructure spending program as sources of mid-term fee-pool expansion for the fund provider. DWS, the fund arm of Deutsche Bank, will also operate globally under the new umbrella brand "Deutsche Asset Management," CEO Stefan Hoops said, citing the company's international ambitions.
In the SDax, Hornbach Holding fell 6.5 percent despite reporting robust second-quarter demand at the hardware retailer.
Elsewhere in Europe, the EuroStoxx 50 rose 0.14 percent to 6,413.17 points. In Zurich, the Swiss exchange slipped 1.6 percent, weighed by a further decline in pharmaceutical heavyweight Novartis. London's FTSE 100 gave up slight ground, and in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped just over 1 percent following Monday's holiday.
Separately, industry analysis highlighted that new AI data centers now require multiple gigawatts of power — comparable to several modern nuclear reactors — sparking a global race for electricity capacity. Hyperscalers are securing massive volumes through long-term contracts while grids struggle to keep pace, with geopolitical risks around Iran and the Strait of Hormus adding pressure. Energy suppliers and their suppliers could enter a "golden age," analysts said, as rising demand, long-term off-take agreements and elevated power prices create conditions for a major investment theme.
