Further gains on stock markets

The growth of the German economy in 2007 prompted an upturn on the German stock market. Although negative repercussions from the Far East prompted some brief worries in February, the German DAX index regained impetus around mid-year and reached its 2007 high of 8,106 points on 16 July. Later in the summer, the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States brought the positive trend to a halt. Investors became less willing to purchase, which had a global impact on the major stock markets. The true effects of the crisis did not become apparent until towards the end of the year, however, by which time a short-lived recovery had occurred. Despite these influences, the DAX closed the year at 8,067 points. This represents an increase of 22.3% over the year. The EURO STOXX 50, on the other hand, grew by only 6.9%.