Early Election Boosts German Stocks

Stock prices on the Frankfurt stock exchange were higher in late morning trade on Monday as investors applauded the prospect of an early general election following the landslide defeat of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's SPD party in key regional elections at the weekend. At around 11 a.m. local time, the blue-chip DAX 30 index was showing a gain of 36.99 points or 0.85 percent at 4,397.67 points after earlier topping an intraday high of 4,428.09 points. In a crunch regional vote on Sunday, the Social Democrat SPD party lost its former stronghold, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, as voters punished the government for its performance on the economy and unemployment.