Certificates: “More commodities than usual”

The rapid rise in oil prices is fueling lively trading in oil certificates. Silver and gold are no longer quite as popular. And when it comes to individual stocks, it's not just Nvidia, Apple, and the like that are attracting attention.

March 12, 2026. FRANKFURT (German Stock Exchange). Since the outbreak of the Iraq war just under two weeks ago, certificate trading has been extremely busy. “The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is having a noticeable impact on the commodity markets—especially the energy markets,” notes Peter Bösenberg of Société Générale. Prices for Brent and WTI oil have risen to their highest levels since the energy crisis four years ago. After a brief respite, the price of oil rose above $100 per barrel of Brent on Thursday morning, despite the release of record amounts of strategic oil reserves. The stock markets are also experiencing significant fluctuations.

“Volatile markets with high turnover are the norm,” reports Simon Görich from Baader Bank, which trades in certificates. “After the quarterly figures were released in mid-February, things had calmed down considerably, but then the war in Iran caused a sharp upturn,” reports Julius Weiß from the issuer HSCB.

Many leveraged products on oil

Products on the DAX, gold, defense stocks, and oil took the top spots at Baader Bank. “There are more commodities than usual on the list of top sellers,” notes Markus Königer of ICF Bank. It is also noticeable that US tech stocks are not as high up the list this time. The most traded underlying assets at ICF were the DAX, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, gold, oil, Siemens Energy, silver, Rheinmetall, Euro Stoxx, and SAP. The situation is similar at HSBC.

Oil products are extremely popular, especially leveraged products. ICF customers are particularly fond of open-end knock-out calls on Brent Crude (DE000PK6ZF91, DE000DU70317) and call warrants on WTI (DE000DJ99AD6, DE000DJ99AC8). According to Weiß, HSBC sees heavy trading in open-end knock-out calls on Brent Crude with a strike price of US$79.88 and leverage of around 7.8.

Precious metals: betting on rising prices

Things have calmed down somewhat for gold and silver, as Görich from Baader Bank notes. After reaching new all-time highs at the end of January, prices have been trending sideways at a high level for several weeks. However, many are clearly expecting prices to rise again and are positioning themselves accordingly. At ICF, there is a lot of interest in a silver price tracker from DZ Bank (DE000DZ0B773), as well as open-end knock-out calls on silver (DE000DU49XX8) or gold (DE000PJ2RVY7). 

Defense stocks remain in focus

When it comes to stock indices such as the DAX, Dow Jones, or S&P 500, much of the focus is on leveraged products, sometimes bullish, sometimes bearish. However, due to the high swings, many high-turnover open-end knock-outs have reached their knock-out threshold in recent weeks. An open-end X-Turbo put on the DAX (DE000DY814S4) and a put warrant (<DE000PL7WBX6>) continue to be heavily traded on the ICF.

Rheinmetall, Nvidia, Renk, ThyssenKrupp, Bayer, Allianz, and Siemens – these companies are currently attracting a lot of attention. According to Weiß, there is a lot of interest in a bonus cap certificate on Renk, with a cap of €78, a barrier at €38, and a maximum return of 33 percent. In addition, a reverse convertible bond on TUI is among the top performers. The strike price is €7 and the interest rate is 10 percent. “The maximum return is currently 20.7 percent,” he explains. As in previous months, Rheinmetall is also in focus: According to ICF, discount certificates on the defense group are in demand, for example with a cap of €1,520 (DE000PL9G0H9) or €1,450 (DE000DY51LD3). Rheinmetall is currently trading at €1,564. 

AI story Siemens Energy

According to ICF trader Königer, energy technology provider Siemens Energy (DE000ENER6Y0) stands out in the area of leverage products on individual stocks. A call warrant (DE000HT2UQ79) is even the most traded product overall. “The company is benefiting from the construction of numerous AI data centers,” he explains. The share price has increased tenfold over the past two years. A call warrant on Taiwan Semiconductor (DE000HT8UME7), another beneficiary of the AI boom, is also very popular.