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DAX explained: Germany's 40 biggest companies, in ET hours

The DAX is Germany's stock market in one number. For US traders, it's the index that's already been busy for hours before New York wakes up.

Market guide · 6-minute read · Updated 2026-10-21

At a glance

The index is run by Deutsche Börse's index business. It started in 1988.

One unusual detail

Most famous indexes only track share prices. The DAX is a "performance" index: it assumes dividends are put back in. So over long periods it can look stronger than a price-only index of the same stocks.

If you compare the DAX chart to other countries' indexes, keep that in mind.

What moves it

• The ECB. The European Central Bank sets euro-area rates. Its decision usually lands at 8:15 am ET, with a press conference 30 minutes later. That's inside DAX hours.
• German data. Business surveys (the Ifo and ZEW reports), factory orders and the monthly PMI reports give a read on Europe's biggest economy.
• Exports and China. Many big members sell cars, chemicals, machinery and software around the world. Demand from China and the US matters.
• The euro. A weaker euro can help exporters, because their goods get cheaper abroad. See EUR/USD.
• US news. When US data drops at 8:30 am ET, the DAX is still open and often reacts.

When it's busiest

• 3:00 – 4:00 am ET: the Frankfurt open, often the most active hour.
• 8:30 – 9:30 am ET: US data, then the US stock open at 9:30 am. The DAX often gets a second burst.
• 11:30 am ET: the main session ends.

The daylight-saving catch: Europe and the US change their clocks on different dates in March and in late October / early November. For those weeks, the DAX opens and closes an hour off its usual ET times. Our market hours tool does the math.

Its personality

• Lively for a big index. Its daily swings are often larger than the FTSE 100's.
• Two personalities a day. A European morning, then a US-driven finish.
• Heavy names. Even with the 10% cap, a few large companies carry a big share.
• Gaps from Asia and the US. It reacts at 3:00 am ET to everything that happened overnight.

Reading it with our method

Start on the daily chart. Mark the last places price turned around and decide: higher highs and higher lows, or lower ones?

Then trade only with that direction on a smaller chart. A level breaks only when a candle body closes past it. The Frankfurt open often throws tails both ways.

Set your stop from the chart, then size from it. Futures traders should check Eurex for the current point value of their contract size before doing the math. ETF traders can use the position size calculator.

Common mistakes

• Waking up at 9:30 am ET and calling it the open. By then the DAX has traded for six hours.
• Forgetting the clock-change weeks. Your usual open time can be wrong by an hour.
• Comparing it straight to price-only indexes. The dividend effect makes long-term charts look different.
• Ignoring the ECB press conference. The decision is one event; the press conference 30 minutes later is often a second.

Questions