The German market is moderately higher in early afternoon trading Wednesday, as a rebound in commodity prices and positive corporate news reinforced faith in the global economic recovery.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers is advancing 0.74 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is adding 0.47 percent.
The DAX index opened higher at 7,347, compared to the prior close of 7,257, and has been in positive territory. The index is currently adding 0.81 percent.
Deutsche Telekom is climbing about 2 percent after Merrill Lynch raised its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral" and increased the price target to 11.8 euros from 10.7 euros. Citigroup also increased its price target on the stock to 12.20 euros from 11 euros.
Personal care products maker Henkel is rising 2 percent. Beiersdorf is advancing about 1 percent.
Among automakers, Volkswagen is notably higher, while BMW is rising moderately. Daimler is trading little changed. However, truckmaker MAN is falling modestly.
Deutsche Bank is rising 1 percent, while Commerzbank is declining 1.5 percent. Deutsche Bank 's Chief Financial Officer Stefan Krause said at a conference in Frankfurt that the lender expects to achieve pre-tax profit of 11 billion to 12 billion euros annually in the next two to three years.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is advancing 0.90 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is rising 0.88 percent. Switzerland's SMI is adding 0.58 percent.
In economic news, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the U.K. rose by 12,400 from a month earlier to 1.47 million in April, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had expected no change in the number of claimants.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England's rate-setting body remained divided over the policy stance in May, the minutes of the meeting showed. The Monetary Policy Committee led by Governor Mervyn King voted 6-3 to hold the key interest rate at its record low level of 0.5 percent. The voting pattern has been the same since February.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets ended higher. Australia's All Ordinaries added 0.26 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.70 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.48 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed about 1 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow fell 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 edged down 0.04 percent, while the Nasdaq inched up 0.03 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for June delivery is adding $1.42 to $98.33 per barrel and June gold is rising $13.3 to $1493.3 a troy ounce.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.