The next German government faces calls to loosen borrowing rules, slash energy costs and spur innovation. It won’t be easy.

Financial markets rose on the likelihood of a two-party coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, with Germany's benchmark DAX Index up 0.7%. Click to read.

Germany's Robert Habeck, who had run in Sunday's election as the chancellor candidate for the environmentalist Greens, said he would no longer take a leading role in his party after what he described as a disappointing result.