An unexpectedly significant interest rate hike by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) hit the stock markets in Europe on Thursday.
An unexpectedly significant interest rate hike by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) hit the stock markets in Europe on Thursday.
In Frankfurt, the Dax dropped towards 13,000 points. Most recently, it lost 2.85 percent to 13,101 points. It is at its lowest level since early March.
The MDax fell by 3.09 percent to 26,924 points. The leading eurozone index, the EuroStoxx 50, fell by 2.7 percent. The Swiss SMI in Zurich even dropped to its lowest level since the end of 2020 and most recently lost 2.8 percent. The nervousness remains high, intermediate price recoveries like the day before are quickly used for sales.
The SNB surprisingly increased the key interest rate by 0.50 percentage points in the morning and declared this as a measure against inflationary pressure. According to one market participant, hardly any economists expected the SNB to join the ranks of interest-raising central banks.
The market focused on online fashion retailers following a downgraded forecast from Asos and a disappointing interim report from Boohoo. This put considerable pressure on the titles of German competitor Zalando. The papers fell at the bottom of the Dax by almost twelve percent.
The shares of BASF and Uniper were also among the weakest stocks, with price losses of more than six and almost nine percent, respectively. The main reason is likely to be the further reduction in gas deliveries to Germany by the Russian energy group Gazprom. At BASF, for example, a possible stop in Russian gas supplies is threatening production at the Ludwigshafen chemical site.
Index changes moved the shares of the companies affected. The shares of the wind turbine manufacturer Nordex will be removed from the SDax and the TecDax, giving Nordex the receipt for the delayed submission of quarterly figures. Stocks fell 2.7 percent. SMA Solar Technology grew by 1.4 percent. In the index of technology stocks, the stocks from the solar technology manufacturer replace those from Nordex.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
