The Dax closed in the red after trading with losses over long stretches on Wednesday. The tailwind from the positive US stock markets helped from the second half of trading. The leading German index rose by 0.35 percent to 12,915.97 points after losing up to one percent during the day. Before the expected interest rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB), many investors initially did not want to take any more risks, according to the market.

After the recent losses, the MDax of medium-sized companies also worked its way into positive territory and closed with a premium of 0.45 percent to 24,996.30 points.

CMC Markets' Konstantin Oldenburger described the trading mood as fairly calm ahead of the much-anticipated European Central Bank meeting. Market observers are assuming that the ECB will react to the very high inflation in the euro area by raising interest rates by 0.75 percentage points on Thursday. The central bank was forced to act, hesitant rate hikes could not get the enormous price increase under control, stated analyst Christian Henke from the trading house IG.