1526 GMT - German stocks pare back the day's gains after lawmakers approved a major spending plan aimed at turbocharging its military and retooling its stagnating economy. Germany's DAX, the country's blue-chip index, is up 0.7% at 23320.85, having hit a new record high of 23476.01 earlier in the session. Defense company Rheinmetall tops the DAX gainers, up 4.2%, followed by agricultural and pharmaceutical group Bayer, which rises 3.9%. The MDAX index of midcap stocks is up 1.2%, while the SDAX index of small companies climbs 2.3%. "In our view, this is a historic fiscal regime shift, arguably the largest since German reunification," Deutsche Bank Research's Robin Winkler says.(adria.calatayud@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2025 11:26 ET (15:26 GMT)
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