Dusseldorf The Dax started the new trading week with gains: In the first few minutes, the leading index went up almost 70 points. But the euphoria did not last long, because the Dax gave up the profits almost as quickly. Since then, the leading index has been hovering around the level of the previous day and was last up 0.1 percent at 15,053 points. The MDax for medium-sized companies, on the other hand, recorded an increase of 0.7 percent.
The reason for the largely directionless trade: Investors are waiting for the publication of further company figures, which are due in the course of the week in view of the start of the accounting season.
“The mood is somewhere between hope and skepticism,” said Jochen Stanzl, market analyst at trading house CMC Markets. Investors are still not sure whether the enthusiasm of US investors after strong Netflix numbers at the end of last week is just another flash in the pan or actually the beginning of a longer-term recovery.
The numbers from the streaming provider were better than expected: the number of users rose by 7.6 million to 231 million in the fourth quarter. Netflix increased its revenue by 1.9 percent to $7.85 billion.
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That gave the US stock markets a boost on Friday. On Monday, investors on Wall Street initially held back in view of the upcoming accounting season.
Strong Wall Street on Friday also boosted the Japanese stock market, which followed Wall Street higher. There will be no further signals from Asia this week, as the stock exchanges in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan will remain closed all week for the Chinese New Year holidays.
On Thursday, the Dax initially seemed to be on a consolidation course. But then on Friday it recaptured the 15,000 point mark and ended the trading week up 0.8 percent at 15,034 points, the consolidation seemed to have been postponed. Since the Dax has risen sharply in a short time, further setbacks would not come as a surprise to investors.
The Handelsblatt survey Dax-Sentiment among more than 7000 private investors comes to the conclusion that the chance of further rising prices is greater than the risk of falling prices. “The potential for surprises is clearly on the upside,” says sentiment expert Stephan Heibel. This is because investors are already anticipating falling prices and have hedged accordingly.
Investors continue to focus on monetary policy. In the evening, ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks at Deutsche Börse’s New Year’s reception, but only after the stock exchange closes. Market participants are hoping for indications of how much the ECB will raise interest rates at the next few meetings.
Economists surveyed by Reuters recently expected that the European Central Bank will raise the deposit rate, which banks receive for parking excess funds at the central bank, by a further 0.5 percentage points in February and March. The economists surveyed assume that the ECB will then raise interest rates by a further 0.25 percent in the next quarter and then take a break.
At midday, the Bundesbank also published its first monthly report of the year. The central bank sees no reason to sound the all-clear despite the dwindling inflation. The decline is essentially due to the one-off emergency aid in December and may be temporary, according to the monetary authorities.
Look at the chart technique
The Dax continues to focus on the area of 15,000 points. The first stop-loss marks, which investors use to protect themselves against falling prices, are likely to be just below this level.
From a technical point of view, a healthy consolidation would be beneficial. There is further technical support in the area around 14,800 points, as well as short-term around the current price level of 14,980 points. On the upside, the technical resistance stands at 15,365 points.
Look at Euro, Oil and Bitcoin
The euro rose significantly at the beginning of the week and rose overnight to its highest level since April 2022. Most recently, the euro was quoted at $ 1.0852. On the one hand, this is probably due to the now more optimistic forecasts for the European economy, and on the other hand to the confirmation by some ECB representatives that they want to further tighten monetary policy significantly.
“The expectation that the ECB will tighten interest rates more than the Fed this year is giving the common currency wings,” says portfolio manager Altmann. In addition, rising interest rates made investments in the euro zone more attractive for international investors.
Oil prices rose slightly at the start of the week. On Monday morning, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent for delivery in March cost 88.55 US dollars. A barrel of the American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety, also for March delivery, cost $82.09.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $22,833 on Monday. “There is a subtle fear among market participants of missing out on the rally. The bull market feeds the bull market,” said Timo Emden from Emden Research, an analysis company specializing in digital currencies. The tipping point remains the hope that price pressure in the USA will continue to lose momentum and that the US Federal Reserve will take its foot off the interest rate accelerator in the coming months.
Individual values in focus
Juventus: A sports court has deducted 15 points from the Italian record champions for accounting fraud in the current season. This puts the club far down the Serie A table and could even miss out on a place in the Champions League. The papers fell in Milan by 4.4 percent.
Salzgitter: The steelmaker plans to cut around 500 to 800 jobs by 2033. In the course of the conversion of production to more climate-friendly processes, fewer employees will be needed in the future, CEO Gunnar Groebler told the “Braunschweiger Zeitung” on Sunday. The jobs could “be reduced over time in a socially acceptable way using the age pyramid alone”. Salzgitter’s shares rose by 2.2 percent.
Symrise: The fragrance and flavor manufacturer has apparently alienated its shareholders. The group announced on Friday that it would write down its stake in Swedencare in the amount of 126 million euros. The share was down 5.3 percent, putting it at the bottom of the Dax.
Vonovia: Real estate values were relatively strong on Monday. Analyst Rob Jones of investment bank Exane BNP Paribas warned investors “not to miss the ship” after a weak previous year. The industry started 2023 at a significant discount to its book value estimates. His favorites include Vonovia, which rose 2.8 percent on Monday.
Wacker chemistry: Thanks to significant price increases and a strong dollar, Wacker Chemie AG generated record profits last year. The chemical company announced on Monday in Munich that sales had increased by a third to 8.2 billion euros, although sales volumes were even slightly lower. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose by half to 1.7 billion euros, with an efficiency program providing momentum. The profit jumped from 0.8 to 1.3 billion euros. The papers of the group were about one percent in the red.
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