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German DAX Closes Flat Amid Stalled US-Iran Peace Talks

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German shares were little changed, with the blue-chip index gaining 0.05% at Monday's close, as peace negotiations between the US and Iran remain in limbo.

The diplomatic impasse deepened Sunday as Iran's latest offer, which included war reparations, the end of the US naval blockade, and recognition of the country's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, was summarily dismissed by US President Donald Trump as "totally unacceptable" in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Danske Bank noted that oil prices saw a 6% gain over May 8's close, with Brent trading around $106 per barrel by Monday morning.

For the week ahead, key European economic releases include Germany's final April inflation and May ZEW survey on Tuesday, alongside first-quarter gross domestic product and industrial production figures for the broader eurozone on Wednesday. The market is also expected to focus on the meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

On the corporate side, E.ON (EOAN.F) climbed 1.87% after agreeing to purchase British energy supplier Ovo. The acquisition is expected to bring 4 million customers to the German utility company and bolster its digital energy business.

Meanwhile, Hannover Re (HNR1.F) slipped 2.62% at the end of the trading day, as the German reinsurer's first-quarter net income of 710.6 million euros missed the consensus estimate of 721 million euros, overshadowing the 47.9% surge in annual earnings.

"Q1 net income was a 1% miss, with [property and casualty] top-line a big miss and [life and health] top-line a beat... Negatives were L&H EBIT at EUR204m (20% miss vs cons EUR254m), driven by lower investment income and a negative currency result, and P&C revenue at EUR4,480m (13% below cons) due to [foreign exchange and structured reinsurance] volume declines, with Q1 new business [contractual service margin] -27% y/y," RBC Capital Markets said in a quick-take report. "While the stock has been weak into results, and the shares trade on a recent PE low, we would expect a muted first reaction, although the key message of resiliency is likely to resonate with existing shareholders."

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