Investors have to expect falling prices for months to come

Frankfurt It was only a short hope. On Tuesday it initially looked as if the stock exchanges would stabilize after the slump at the start of the week, but the leading German index Dax turned negative again from noon. In the late afternoon, it was down 0.6 percent and has fallen around 18 percent since its all-time high in November.

Things are even worse on Wall Street. The broad stock index S&P 500 had reached a record level at the beginning of the year – but is now more than 20 percent below it and, according to the official reading, entered a bear market at the beginning of the week. The trigger was speculation that the US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates more than expected at its meeting on Wednesday.