(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s DAX Index is starting the second half of the year with a bang as the benchmark is set to enter a bull market.
The gauge rose as much as 1.8% in the first hour of trading on Monday, bringing the total gain to 22% since a closing low on Dec. 27. The guage is up 1.5% as of 9:52 a.m. in Frankfurt.
Chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG led gains, while automakers also rose after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to restart trade talks that broke down in May, with a suspension of new tariffs and a scaling back of restrictions on technology giant Huawei. Trump tweeted that the meeting was “better than expected.”
The return to a bull market comes just about seven months after the index entered into a bear scenario as 2018 proved a challenge for German stocks with trade fears, a slow economy and many companies scaling back their expectations.
Infineon soared as much as 8% as technology stocks across the region rose, while export-heavy Continental AG and Covestro AG also rallied on the thawing of trade-war tensions. Deutsche Bank AG shares gained as much as 3.5% as the troubled lender is said to cut jobs, while German property stocks advanced amid reports that lawyers of the German parliament consider a planned ban on rent increases in Berlin to be unlawful.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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