Strong corporate figures continue to drive the Dax upwards.

In the first few minutes of trading on Wednesday, the leading German index rose by up to 0.4 percent to around 18,500 points, less than 70 points below its all-time high. "Optimism among investors is back," said portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners.

With a price jump of around 13 percent, Siemens Energy left the other DAX stocks far behind. Following growth in the second quarter, the energy technology group raised its forecast and is facing another change of management at its problem subsidiary Gamesa. Investors in Borussia Dortmund were also in a jubilant mood after BVB advanced to the Champions League final on Tuesday evening with another victory against Paris Saint-Germain. BVB shares shot up by around eleven percent at the peak, heading for their highest daily gain in almost a year.

(Report by Stefanie Geiger, edited by Christian Götz. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)