German midcaps eye best day in 3 years after debt deal
05/03/2025 08:58
MILAN, March 5 (Reuters) - German midcaps rallied nearly 6% on Wednesday, set for their largest daily surge in three years after the parties hoping to form the next government agreed on a historic debt overhaul. By 0852 GMT, the domestically exposed MDAX .MDAX index rose 5.7% to a two-year high, outpacing the more internationally oriented bluechip DAX .GDAXI index, which was up 3%. Lemanik fund manager Andrea Scauri said he expected the German measures to benefit steel, cement and chemical companies to which the MDAX index is heavily exposed. Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the Social Democrats agreed to create a 500 billion euro ($534 billion) infrastructure fund and overhaul borrowing rules to revamp the military and revive growth in Europe's largest economy. Among top MDAX gainers were builders Bilfinger GBFG.DE and Hochtief HOTG.DE, chemical firms Wacker Chemie WCHG.DE and Lanxess LXSG.DE, along with steel-to-defence conglomerate Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE. They all rose over 11% on the day. ($1 = 0.9355 euros) (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, editing by Alun John) ((Danilo.Masoni@TR.com; Reuters Messaging: danilo.masoni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))