The hope of a less tight monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve and progress made by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the fight against high inflation gave the Dax a lot of momentum on Thursday. The leading index closed 2.16 percent higher at 15,509.19 points, climbing to its highest level in almost a year. Strong quarterly figures, especially from the tech industry, also drove prices up. The MDax for medium-sized companies jumped 3.32 percent to 29,808.92 points.
As expected, the ECB again raised the key interest rate in the euro zone by 0.50 percentage points to 3.0 percent. Both the growth and the inflation risks are more balanced than recently, said ECB President Christine Lagarde after the interest rate meeting. However, she did not envisage an end to further interest rate hikes anytime soon.
The Fed had already raised its key interest rate by 0.25 points the day before and also announced a further tightening of monetary policy.