Before several important interest rate decisions, investors on the German stock market continued to hold back on Tuesday. The Dax closed almost unchanged and was 0.01 percent higher at 15,128.27 points. Nevertheless, the leading index recorded an increase of almost 8.7 percent in January, which corresponds to one of the strongest balance sheets for the start of the year in the history of the Dax. The MDax for medium-sized companies fell 0.19 percent on Tuesday to 28,813.25 points, but even gained 14.7 percent in the first month of the year – a January record.
Before several important interest rate decisions, investors on the German stock market continued to hold back on Tuesday. The Dax closed almost unchanged and was 0.01 percent higher at 15,128.27 points. Nevertheless, the leading index recorded an increase of almost 8.7 percent in January, which corresponds to one of the strongest balance sheets for the start of the year in the history of the Dax. The MDax for medium-sized companies fell 0.19 percent on Tuesday to 28,813.25 points, but even gained 14.7 percent in the first month of the year – a January record.
“The volatility picks up again before the central bank decisions and illustrates the increased uncertainty in the market,” wrote market expert Salah-Eddine Bouhmidi from the trading house IG. Investors were infected by the euphoria on the stock market at the beginning of the year and now fear statements from the currency watchdogs about a continuation of the aggressive, restrictive monetary policy in the fight against high inflation. The US Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank and Bank of England on Thursday.
Uncertainty about the central bank’s decisions also pushed positive economic data out of China on Tuesday, where the mood in the economy had brightened for the first time in months. In addition, according to the first figures, the euro area economy grew slightly in the final quarter. The feared recession has thus become a little less likely, although growth was meager at 0.1 percent.
Papers from the pharmaceutical and health sector were weak in the Dax. The stocks of laboratory supplier Sartorius and Merck each lost 1.3 percent. Fresenius Medical Care even slipped to the bottom of the Dax with a minus of a good 2 percent. The analysts at Warburg Research remain pessimistic for the dialysis provider before the publication of the annual figures.
Meanwhile, good quarterly figures from General Motors (GM) supported automotive stocks. In the Dax, BMW took the lead in the index with an increase of 1.9 percent, while Porsche AG gained almost as much. According to expert Philippe Houchois from analysis house Jefferies, GM’s outlook signals confidence.
The armaments group Rheinmetall raised money for the acquisition of the Spanish ammunition manufacturer Expal announced in November via a convertible bond. The group raised a total of one billion euros. As a result, Rheinmetall fell by 5.8 percent in the MDax, bringing up the rear, and new shares dilute profits for shareholders.
Meanwhile, optimistic analyst assessments of the travel and leisure sector made Sixt shares the biggest winner in the mid-cap index, with the car rental company up 4.9 percent. Jefferies sees the travel industry in 2023 more resilient than initially thought.
Vantage Towers shares rose 1.3 percent after it became known that the activist US investor Elliott had secured a large stake in the radio tower company and could thus upset the plans of the Vodafone subsidiary. The increase in sales of Vantage Towers in the past quarter was therefore a minor matter.
In the SDax small-cap index, Atoss shares came under some pressure after the presentation of business figures. They fell by half a percent, although the personnel software specialist had promised its shareholders a special dividend. Atoss continues to benefit from the shortage of skilled workers and the demand for cloud software. Despite the good order situation, the bottom line net profit rose only slightly.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial recently rose by 0.2 percent, and the tech stocks on the Nasdaq even recovered by around one percent. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx closed 0.12 percent higher at 4163.45 points. In Paris, the Cac 40 ended trading almost unchanged, while the FTSE 100 in London lost almost 0.2 percent.
The euro rose slightly and thus benefited from the good economic data from the euro zone, in the late afternoon the common currency cost 1.0855 US dollars. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at 1.0833 (Monday: 1.0903) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9231 (0.9171) euros.
The current yield on the bond market remained at 2.28 percent. The Rex pension index fell by 0.11 percent to 125.97 points. The Bund future gained 0.21 percent to 136.92 points.
Source: Stern
