DAX Index Rises as Oil Prices Ease; German Factory Orders Slump

11:50 AM EDT, 10/06/2026 (MT Newswires) -- German shares ended Tuesday in the green, with the blue-chip DAX index gaining 0.78%, as the markets weighed easing oil prices and fresh data prints. Oil prices fell following reports about a meeting between US President Donald Trump's top national security aides last week, while an initial report of an attack-related shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline was later contradicted by a Bloomberg report that the pipeline was operating normally. On the macroeconomic front, Germany's new manufacturing orders tumbled 10.6% month over month in August, marking the first monthly decline since April, compared with the revised 3.2% growth in the previous month and the expected 0.9% dip. Annually, factory orders rose 2.7%, against the revised 14% jump earlier. Destatis attributed the negative development to a 61.5% month-on-month plunge in other transport equipment orders. The steep pullback comes after an "exceptionally high volume" of aircraft, rail, and maritime orders, which more than doubled the orders for the sector orders in July. Meanwhile, Germany's construction downturn deepened in September 2026, driven by the sharpest drop in residential building since December 2024 and a fresh decline in commercial construction. According to S&P Global, the Construction PMI Total Activity Index fell to 43.5 from an eight-month high of 48.7 a month ago. On the corporate side, mwb Research highlighted Rheinmetall's (RHM.F) third-quarter pre-close statement, noting the update signals "another solid quarter, but no obvious beat." "Growth is tracking in line with the guided FY26 range of 37% to 42%, while the operating margin target of around 19% was reiterated. We model Q3 sales of EUR 3.9bn and EBIT of EUR 740m and leave our FY26 estimates unchanged. The statement reinforces our view that Arminius is increasingly needed to justify the current valuation rather than delivering incremental upside. Without the program, we estimate our target price would be around 20% lower," mwb wrote. "The main upside remains the US, particularly XM30, while emerging laser technologies could again reshape warfare economics. CMD will be crucial. HOLD, PT EUR 1,050 confirmed." Separately, the German defense group partnered with defense technology startup Breaker to integrate voice-controlled, human-machine teaming capabilities into armored vehicles. The collaboration will deploy Breaker's tactical orchestration agent on Australian Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles and combine crewed and uncrewed platforms without adding personnel. Rheinmetall fell 3.24% at the end of the trading day.