Dusseldorf Investors are holding back on the last trading day before the long Easter weekend. At the end of trading, the leading German index was up 0.5 percent at 15,598 points. This results in a weekly gain of around 0.2 percent. The trading range was very narrow at 92 points on Thursday.
After the steep rises in the past and current trading week, setbacks like on Wednesday are no surprise. The outlook regarding the technical charts remains optimistic. Because the new high for the year on Tuesday brought the 16,000 point mark into focus – and then the record mark of 16,290 points.
On Thursday some economic data were on the agenda. Even before the start of the stock exchange, the Federal Statistical Office published data on German production in February. German companies have surprisingly ramped up their production recently. They produced 2.0 percent more than in the previous month – economists had only expected an increase of 0.1 percent.
This means that production has increased more than it has in more than a year and a half. Alexander Krüger, chief economist at Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank, says: “It looks as if the industry has turned the corner.”
The automotive industry recorded a particularly large increase of 7.6 percent, but energy-intensive branches of industry also increased their production by 1.9 percent. The Federal Ministry of Economics emphasized that the development indicates “that the bottom of the energy crisis may have been passed”.
Investors also looked at a forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF): According to this, the global economy will grow by less than three percent in 2023. Growth remains weak in historical comparison, and not just in the short term, according to IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva.
In addition, the focus in the afternoon was on the USA: The US Department of Labor announced the number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the past week.
The number of initial applications has recently turned out to be higher than expected, fueling concerns about the economy. A total of 228,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, according to the Washington Department of Labor on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had only expected 200,000. At the same time, the number of applications for the previous week was revised significantly upwards – to 246,000 from the 198,000 initially reported.
The data is seen as a precursor to the monthly job data, which will be released on Friday. Wall Street opened lower on the data.
There was further economic data from China: In March, the service sector there grew faster than it had in two and a half years. The Caixin/S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 57.8 in March from 55.0 in February, posting its third straight monthly increase — and the highest level since November 2020.
However, economists doubt China’s economic recovery will last amid rising geopolitical tensions and financial worries outside the country.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index fell 1.2 percent to 27,473 points, joining South Korea’s index as one of the weakest in the region. The Shanghai stock exchange and the index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen were down 0.2 and 0.4 percent respectively.
Looking at Gold, Euro and Oil:
Growing fears of a recession in the US pushed the price of gold towards a record high just before Easter. During the course of the week, there was not much missing from the mark of $2075 a troy ounce from the summer of 2020. The price of gold is currently lower again at $2026.
The euro exchange rate moved only a little before the Easter holidays. In the late afternoon, however, the euro exchange rate pushed back above the recently stubborn mark of 1.09 dollars and was last traded at 1.0925 dollars.
Crude oil was also under pressure after the surprising decision by Opec Plus producers to cut production volumes drove the oil price up more than six percent at the beginning of the week. North Sea Brent and US light oil WTI fell to $84.92 and $80.40 a barrel, respectively.
Look at the individual values:
Gerresheimer: The Dax group presented its quarterly figures before the start of trading. In the first quarter, sales increased organically by 21 percent to around 458 million euros and adjusted operating profit (Ebitda) by a quarter to 78 million. In 2023, the board is targeting growth of at least ten percent in sales and organic adjusted EBITDA. The stock still lost 4.3 percent.
limit: The shares of the leasing specialist increased by 8.4 percent after a buy recommendation from Deutsche Bank.
Schaeffler: Shares in the automotive supplier recovered by 4.9 percent, also due to an upgrade to “buy” by Warburg Research.
Symrise: Analysts at JP Morgan have upgraded the fragrance and flavors maker’s stock to Overweight from previously Neutral. The papers rose by around four percent.
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