Frankfurt’s DAX 40 extended its recent rally on Wednesday, rising 0.4% to an all-time high of 25,510 points, boosted by strong performances from Bayer and RWE and positive market reaction to surprisingly robust Chinese trade data. Bayer shares surged 3.3% after the company outlined plans to return its pharmaceuticals business to mid-single-digit percentage growth by 2027 and target an operating margin of around 30% by 2030. RWE gained 3.2% after being named among the developers awarded guaranteed electricity price contracts in the UK’s latest offshore wind auction, which secured a record level of capacity, the government said. Elsewhere, DHL Group slipped 0.7% following Goldman Sachs’ withdrawal of its buy recommendation, while Lufthansa shares fell more than 2% after Barclays analyst Andrew Lobbenberg downgraded the stock to “Underweight.”
