The Dax continued its record run on Friday. In the meantime, the leading German index rose to over 18,800 points. The main boost was the hope that key interest rates would be cut in the USA in the near future. The low trading volumes on the bridge day after the Ascension Day holiday also contributed to this, because on such days just a few orders are enough to move the stock market barometer more strongly in one direction or the other.
The Dax closed 0.46 percent higher at 18,772.85 points, having already reached its record high of 18,845.86 points in the morning. On a weekly basis there was a gain of 4.28 percent – the strongest weekly increase since November. The MDax of medium-sized stocks rose by 0.13 percent to 26,743.87 points on Friday.
The day before, the Dax had finally put an end to the weak phase from the beginning of April by jumping to another record. In addition to positive foreign trade data from China, job data from the USA had pushed the stock market barometer higher.
The number of initial weekly applications for unemployment assistance rose surprisingly significantly. Some investors interpret this as a further indication of a weakening of the employment market – and that could be crucial for the US Federal Reserve to take a more positive view of the inflation environment and possibly lower the key interest rate soon. However, the University of Michigan reported on Friday a significant increase in consumer inflation expectations, which at least weighed on the euro somewhat.
At the end of the week, individual stocks were moved primarily by analyst comments. Zalando gained a good three percent. The shares benefited from a recommendation from Berenberg Bank.
Munich Re, recommended to buy by Bank of America, rose by more than three percent to 455.40 euros. Analyst Freya Kong believes the reinsurer’s papers will continue their run and has now set a medium-term price target of 530 euros.
Symrise shares, on the other hand, fell by 1.5 percent. Berenberg analyst Samantha Darbyshire had canceled her buy recommendation for the flavors and fragrances manufacturer’s papers, citing price pressure in the important pet food additives business.
The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 closed 0.61 percent higher at 5085.08 points. The Paris and London stock exchanges recorded price gains of a similar magnitude. The New York leading index Dow Jones Industrial was slightly up at the end of European trading.
The euro was last quoted at $1.0770. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at 1.0779 (Wednesday: 1.0743) dollars. The dollar therefore cost 0.9277 (0.9308) euros.
On the bond market, the current yield fell from 2.55 percent the day before to 2.52 percent. The Rex bond index rose by 0.17 percent to 124.56 points. The Bund future fell by 0.34 percent to 130.78 points.
Source: Stern
