FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Following recent losses in the wake of the Iran war, the German stock market stabilized on Monday. Investors reacted with relief as oil prices eased slightly. "Investors are betting on U.S. intervention in the energy markets," wrote market analyst Andreas Lipkow of brokerage CMC Markets. Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann of QC Partners explained that the Dax currently lacks a life of its own. Oil prices and the resulting reactions on other exchanges remain the global pace-setters.

The German benchmark index ultimately rose by 0.50 percent to 23,564.01 points after a cautious start to trading. In the domestic spotlight, Commerzbank took center stage. The major Italian bank Unicredit made a strategic move by submitting a tactical takeover bid for Germany's second-largest financial institution.

Broadly speaking, investors continued to look toward the Middle East: Most recently, U.S. President Donald Trump called on NATO allies for support in securing oil shipments in the vital Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. Shipping traffic in the strait, which is crucial for the international transport of oil and liquefied gas, has been severely hampered by the war, although several tankers managed to pass through the bottleneck over the weekend.

Nevertheless, Lipkow remained skeptical: "The war in the Middle East remains the dominant theme and, with every new week of conflict, proves wrong all those who expected a short and simple military strike." Energy prices could thus become a genuine problem that is likely to fully unfold only in the coming months. The consequences would be felt both directly through declining corporate margins and through rising inflationary trends and the resulting consumer restraint. The central bank meetings and interest rate decisions scheduled for this week in the U.S., the Eurozone, England, and Japan are therefore expected to receive particularly close attention.

The MDax of medium-sized companies ended the day 0.46 percent higher at 28,951.70 points. Across Europe, there were also slight recovery gains: The Eurozone benchmark EuroStoxx index gained 0.39 percent to 5,739.01 points, and the stock exchanges in London and Zurich also rose moderately. In the U.S., the Wall Street Dow Jones Industrial index advanced by 0.7 percent by the close of European trading. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index posted even more significant gains./ck/stw