Stock market: Dax unchanged, Siemens Energy shares in demand, Dow Jones expected to rise

Slight gains in early trading on the German stock market evaporated around midday. The DAX recently tipped into negative territory, falling 0.1 percent to 24,177 points. The MDAX, which represents mid-cap companies, was down 0.3 percent at 29,933 points. The Eurozone's leading index, the EuroStoxx 50, also lost 0.3 percent to 5,652 points.

Inflation in the US increased less than expected in September. Consumer prices rose by 3.0 percent year-on-year, the Department of Labor announced in Washington on Thursday. In August, the inflation rate was 2.9 percent. Economists, however, had expected an increase to 3.1 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, fell from 3.1 percent to 3.0 percent year-on-year. Analysts, however, had expected an unchanged figure.

Infineon 's share price rose by 0.8 percent. The shares benefited from surprisingly strong business figures from Intel the previous evening. Other industry stocks, including Aixtron , Elmos Semiconductor , Süss Microtec, and Siltronic, gained as much as 3 percent.

Hensoldt shares rose by almost 3 percent. The previous evening, the defense company reported increasing orders. Rheinmetall shares also gained.

As on the previous day, Siemens Energy was among the DAX's top performers, gaining 1.9 percent. Siemens Energy is considered a beneficiary of a sharp rise in global energy demand related to computing and data centers for artificial intelligence. Quarterly figures from AI companies such as AI equipment provider Vertiv and GE Vernove recently indicated an acceleration of investments in AI and data centers.

Following Thursday's gains, Wall Street indices are expected to continue rising on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrials closed up 0.3 percent at 46,734 points in premarket trading, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were also slightly higher in premarket trading.

Investors are snapping up Intel 's surprisingly strong earnings performance. The quarterly results, which exceeded expectations thanks to cost-cutting measures and strong demand, also made the chipmaker more optimistic for the full year. Shares rose 8 percent in premarket trading in the US. Shares of industry peers AMD and Micron Technology each gained 2.5 percent in the wake. This provides Intel with a positive outlook for the coming week, when other US tech giants, including Apple and Microsoft, will present their financial results.

US shoe manufacturer Deckers Outdoor has scared off investors with its annual forecast. Shares of the Hoka sneakers and Ugg boots slumped 11.5 percent in premarket trading on Wall Street. Deckers expects full-year revenue of approximately $5.35 billion, although its second-quarter earnings were slightly above market expectations.

Oil prices declined on Friday but were heading for a weekly gain of around 7 percent. The increase was due to new US sanctions against the Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, which fueled concerns about supply bottlenecks.

A barrel of North Sea Brent crude fell 0.7 percent to $65.51. The price of US WTI crude fell 0.8 percent to $61.32.