Germany's benchmark blue-chip stock index, the DAX, crossed the 18,000-point mark for the first time during trading on Wednesday morning shortly after opening.

The DAX, which is made up of 40 large publicly traded German corporations, has been on a strong run recently despite struggles for the overall  German economy.

The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported that Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3%  in the last quarter of 2023. However, in January this year, Europe's biggest economy recorded a jump with German companies hitting a 6.3% increase in the value of goods exported.

Many of the companies in the index do significant business abroad, such as in the United States, making them less dependent on the domestic market.

Among the globally recognized companies listed on the DAX are Volkswagen, Bayer, BMW and Adidas.

ssa/sms (dpa, AFP)