Stock exchange in Frankfurt: Dax increases significantly before the weekend

After a mixed week of trading, the Dax gained new momentum on Friday. The leading German index continued to expand its initial gains in the morning and was last listed 0.92 percent higher at 14,397.79 points. According to stockbrokers, however, there are currently no major price drivers that could take the stock market barometer to even loftier heights.

After gains of more than 20 percent since the low at the end of September and the jump over the 14,400 point mark at the beginning of the week, the race to catch up in the Dax had recently started to stutter. The rally also faltered on many other world stock exchanges. Stockbrokers speak of an overbought level. Doubts are also growing in the USA that the US Federal Reserve could actually slow down its pace of interest rate hikes – precisely this hope had been fueled by the rally on international trading centers in recent weeks.

“For now, the air is gone,” said Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners, describing the mood. The stockbrokers were now waiting for impulses. Christian Henke from broker IG spoke of a “stalemate”. On the one hand, there is a lack of follow-up purchases, but on the other hand, investors do not want to sell either. On a weekly basis, however, an increase of one percent is looming for the leading German index.

For the MDax of medium-sized stocks, however, Friday began with slight losses, with a slight minus of 0.16 percent to 25,467.84 points. The leading European index EuroStoxx 50 increased by 0.97 percent to 3915.88 points.

There are no longer any major drivers in sight before the weekend, neither on the economic nor on the corporate side. In the absence of any fresh news from the balance sheet season, which was ending anyway, investors initially concentrated on analyst studies in the morning.

In the Dax it caught the SAP papers. Here, a vote by the experts at Jefferies, which fell by two notches from “buy” to “underperform”, had a negative impact. The shares slipped to the end of the index with a discount of more than two percent. Analyst Charles Brennan sees the medium-term goals at risk due to the strict cost controls with which the management of the software group is reacting to the weaker economy. He is also bothered by the high valuation, which makes SAP shares the most expensive in the sector.

Utilities were also strong. Among other things, a positive study by Société Générale for Eon titles supported this – these climbed by more than two percent. Competitor RWE was slightly more expensive. After the passing of a temporary special tax on excess profits for electricity producers, analysts see an uncertainty in the group eliminated. Uniper shares rose by seven and a half percent.

The papers of the engine manufacturer MTU, which had already been strong the day before, remained in momentum and increased by almost one percent. After the medium-term outlook, which was enthusiastically received by the market, numerous analyst firms increased their price targets. At Mercedes-Benz, some investors are likely to have used the recent price slide: shares in the car manufacturer climbed 2.4 percent at the top of the Dax.

Knorr- Bremse was in demand in the MDax after the experts at Oddo BHF issued a buy recommendation. The manufacturer of braking systems should benefit from rising prices in the truck business, argued analyst Delphine Brault. In the longer term, a growing rail segment and automation are driving forces.