Despite ongoing concerns about inflation and interest rates, the Dax has made up for its initial losses. The leading German index closed 0.15 percent higher at 15,327.64 points after temporarily falling by one percent.
Despite ongoing concerns about inflation and interest rates, the Dax has made up for its initial losses. The leading German index closed 0.15 percent higher at 15,327.64 points after temporarily falling by one percent.
Recently, the Dax also benefited from a slightly better mood on Wall Street. The MDax for medium-sized stocks, on the other hand, lost 0.46 percent to 28,447.23 points. Inflation data from the euro area caused a shock moment on the German stock market.
Although high inflation in the region fell to 8.5 percent in February and thus for the fourth month in a row, it was not as strong as hoped. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices that are prone to fluctuations, rose surprisingly to a record 5.6 percent.
Shares in interest-sensitive real estate groups defied inflation concerns and rose. Positive news for the industry came from the city of Berlin, where almost three weeks after the repeat election everything points to coalition negotiations between the CDU and the SPD. The two parties probably did not intend a blanket expropriation of real estate, but the socialization of residential real estate in individual cases through purchase, said a stockbroker.
The papers from LEG Immobilien at the top of the MDax gained 2.8 percent. TAG Immobilien shares increased by 2.5 percent. In the wake of this, the shares of Dic Asset rocketed to the top of the SDax small-cap index with a plus of 9.1 percent, even though the company specializes in commercial and not residential real estate.
There was news from companies in the chemical industry in particular: At the end of the Dax, Covestro shares fell by 6.2 percent. In the difficult economic environment, the plastics group does not dare to make any specific forecasts for 2023. The operating result is likely to fall significantly in the current year, the same applies to the free inflow of operating funds.
The Darmstadt-based pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals group Merck KGaA is preparing for tougher times after a profit increase in 2022. The forecast for 2023 clean operating income is likely to result in a further cut in the consensus estimate, wrote JPMogan analyst Richard Vosser. However, given the recent price losses, this should already be priced into the share price. Accordingly, Merck ended up selling 1.1 percent higher.
The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index in the euro zone, closed 0.59 percent higher at 4240.59 points. France’s Cac 40 was up 0.7 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent. The New York Dow Jones Industrial was up around 0.3 percent at the European close, driven by strong gains at Salesforce. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index, on the other hand, fell 0.6 percent in the face of interest rate concerns.
The euro continued to fall and was last listed at 1.0594 US dollars. The common currency had to give back the significant price gains of the previous day. The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate at 1.0605 (Wednesday: 1.0684) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9430 (0.9360) euros.
On the bond market, the current yield rose from 2.76 percent on the previous day to 2.79 percent. The Rex pension index fell by 0.28 percent to 123.15 points. The Bund future lost 0.18 percent to 131.58 points.
Source: Stern
