Germany's benchmark blue-chip stock index, the DAX, tops 18,000 points for the first time during trading on Wednesday morning, hitting 18,000.42 shortly after opening.
The DAX, which is made up of 40 large publicly traded German corporations, has been on a strong run in recent days despite struggles for the overall German economy.
Many of the companies in the DAX do significant business abroad, such as in the United States, and are less dependent on the domestic German market.
Stocks have been boosted by strong US economic growth and investor optimism about artificial intelligence (AI).
The rally has also been driven by official data indicating that inflation in the eurozone is falling faster than expected, raising the prospect that the European Central Bank (ECB) may cut interest rates sooner.
