DAX Index Welcomes Week Flat; Infineon, Mutares Shares Up

11:58 AM EST, 12/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- German stocks welcomed the new trading week flat, with the blue-chip DAX Index down 0.02% on Monday's close amid a quiet day for local economic news. A survey conducted by the ifo Institute showed that 26% of German companies across all sectors expect a deterioration in their business in 2026. Among the companies surveyed, 59% are not anticipating any change in their economic situation, while 14.9% are optimistic about seeing an improvement in the coming year. Businesses in the electrical equipment sector are more upbeat regarding their prospects, while those in the trade sector are largely pessimistic. "Companies remain very cautious - there is no spirit of optimism to be seen anywhere. Hardly any sector is really optimistic about 2026," ifo head of surveys Klaus Wohlrabe said. "The figures are surprising given that the [construction] sector could actually hope for the announced infrastructure package. It doesn't yet seem to be causing any euphoria." Meanwhile, the shortened week ahead due to the holidays will only see the November report for import prices in Germany, while the eurozone calendar is empty. Elsewhere, the US gross domestic product and jobless claims data are on the agenda. In corporate news, Infineon Technologies (IFX.F) was among the top performers, closing 2.52% higher, buoyed by lingering positive effects in technology-sector stocks from the end of last week amid news of an investment deal involving a group of investors, including cloud provider Oracle, and TikTok. Mutares (MUX.F) is bolstering its engineering and technology segment by agreeing to purchase Finnish marine and energy technology group Wärtsilä's gas solutions business. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. The German private equity holding company saw its shares rise 0.69% at closing.