Dusseldorf The German stock market starts trading cautiously ahead of the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB). The leading index Dax was up 0.4 percent on Thursday morning at 14,135 points. Among the individual stocks, Daimler Truck, Puma and Airbus are among the winners with growth of one percent and more.
On Wednesday, the Frankfurt stock exchange barometer was 0.3 percent weaker at 14,076 points. The trading range (13,962 to 14,100 points) moved completely within that of the previous day (13,887 to 14,180 points) – a so-called inside day. In technical analysis, this is interpreted as the market being undecided about direction. The breakout of this narrow trading range then indicates the further direction.
Support comes from the USA and Asia on Thursday: in New York the previous day, the market-wide index S&P 500 had increased by one percent and the tech index Nasdaq 100 by two percent.
The background for the upswing was still Tuesday’s inflation figures: since core inflation rose less quickly than expected, this fuels hopes that inflation may soon have peaked. US Treasury yields have since stabilized and the dollar has weakened slightly.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Prices also rose in Asia on Thursday morning. Here the stock exchanges also benefited from the expectation that the Chinese central bank could lower its key interest rate in order to strengthen the economy. The economic outlook has deteriorated due to the recent corona outbreak and the tough lockdowns.
However, the analysts at Helaba do not yet see any sign of the all-clear: “Since there are no signs of easing in the Ukraine conflict, the willingness to take risks remains low. The technical picture is also clouded as long as the Dax is listed below the resistance in the range of 14,300 to 14,360 points.”
However, the European Central Bank (ECB) could cause movement during the course of the day. This will publish its interest rate decision in the afternoon (1.45 p.m.), ECB President Christine Lagarde will then explain the decisions in a press conference (from 2.30 p.m.).
>> Read about this: These three points are important at the ECB meeting.
Market traders expect that the ECB could already react to the rising inflation in this session. So far, the end of the billion-dollar bond purchases is planned as a preliminary stage of a turnaround in interest rates, if possible in the summer. Lagarde is increasingly under pressure, says Christian Henke from Broker IG. “However, as a result of the Ukraine war, the topic of a turnaround in interest rates could continue to be put on the back burner.”
As a result, there is also potential for disappointment in the markets, write the Helaba experts in their analysis: “Should the ambitious interest rate expectations be corrected somewhat, the bond market would be supported.” Spiked to 92.34. At the same time, the return rose from minus 0.069 to as much as 0.813 percent.
Look at the individual values
Valneva: Great Britain was the first country to give the green light to the corona vaccine from the French pharmaceutical company Valneva. The responsible supervisory authority MHRA approved the application for people between the ages of 18 and 50 on Thursday. The share then rose sharply, and trading on the Euronext stock exchange was therefore temporarily suspended. On the Tradegate trading platform, Valneva shares rose by more than ten percent.
Drägerwerk: A cautious forecast for the year means that the shares of the medical technology manufacturer in the SDax slip by more than seven percent. The company is initially sticking to its outlook. Due to increasing difficulties in the delivery of electronic components, however, only the lower end of the forecast range can be expected, the company announced.
ericsson The Swedish network supplier fears a fine from the US authorities for possible bribes to Iraqi militias. The amount of the fine cannot be estimated. Ericsson also announced a decline in quarterly operating profit to 4.7 (previous year: 5.3) billion Swedish crowns (455 million euros). The share fell by more than seven percent in Stockholm.
Atlantis: The takeover bid of around 12.7 billion euros by the Benetton family in association with the financial investor Blackstone drives Atlantia up. The shares of the Italian infrastructure group rose by up to 5.8 percent to EUR 23.15 on the Milan Stock Exchange. They are as expensive as they were last in February 2020. The offer provides for 23 euros per share, as the companies previously announced. With this, Benetton and Blackstone want to outdo the Spanish property developer Florentino Perez and his ACS group.
Oil prices fall
Oil prices eased after two straight days of gains. In the morning, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost US$ 108.05. That was 73 cents less than on Wednesday. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell $1.13 to $103.12.
Most recently, the prospect of rising demand for crude oil had driven prices after the otherwise strict corona measures in the Chinese financial metropolis Shanghai had been relaxed. As the second largest economy in the world, China is one of the most important oil consumers. In addition, the country’s central bank is likely to take further measures to support the flagging economy.
However, there are currently arguments in favor of an increasing oil supply, which is likely to cause oil prices to fall. US inventories of crude oil have risen surprisingly significantly in the past week, as was announced on Wednesday. In addition, the member states of the International Energy Agency have released national oil reserves in order to mitigate the economic consequences of the Ukraine war.
Here you can go to the page with the Dax course, here you can find the current tops & flops in the Dax.