Germany's DAX index posts best year since 2019

Germany's stock market ended the last trading day of the year on a strong note, with its leading index the DAX rising at one point above 24,500 points and closing at 24,490.41 points.

This brought the Frankfurt-based index close to its all-time high of 24,771 points set in October.

This month, the DAX gained 2.7%, helping it record its best year since 2019 with an overall increase of 23%, performing better than the Eurozone's leading index, the Euro Stoxx, and the Dow Jones Industrial in the US.

In shortened trading on Tuesday, its books for this year were already closed at 2 pm (1300 GMT).

Many investors stayed away from the stock market between Christmas and New Year, which led to low trading volumes and resultant stronger price fluctuations for some individual stocks.

The strong DAX performance stands in stark contrast to the economic slump in Germany. However, investors often focus not on the current situation, but on future profits.

In addition, the 40 companies listed on the DAX are internationally positioned and generate most of their revenues abroad.

Market expert Thomas Altmann from QC Partners spoke of an excellent year but noted that this only applied to the first half, as the second had been "more of a sideways movement."

Of its 34 record highs, the DAX marked 31 in the first half of the year and only three in the second.

The second-tier MDAX listing of medium-sized companies rose by 0.54% to 30,617.67 points on Tuesday. This resulted in a December gain of 2.3% for the index, and an increase of almost 20% for 2025 overall.