Market report
As of: 09/22/2021 7:26 am
Before an important meeting of the US Federal Reserve, investors want to wait and see. The specifications from the USA and Asia are mixed, the markets remain shaky even in the middle of the week.
According to pre-trading indications, the DAX will not exceed yesterday’s closing level in the morning. The recovery that the leading index initiated yesterday is now pausing. The mixed situation on the stock markets remains tense.
Wall Street with Mini Plus
The guidelines from Wall Street are only slightly positive. After the sell-off at the beginning of the week, prices in New York had stabilized again. The Dow Jones index of standard values closed 0.2 percent lower at 33,919 points. The broad S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent to 4,354 meters. The technology-heavy Nasdaq rose slightly by 0.2 percent to 14,746 points. The uncertainty remained high. Several issues continue to weigh on the market, according to manager Andre Bakhos of New Vines Capital. In addition to concerns about the delta variant of the corona virus and sluggish economic growth, there was fear of a possible default by China’s second largest real estate developer Evergrande.
Today, however, investors’ attention is mainly focused on the meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in the evening. Experts expect that it could lay the foundation for reducing its support measures (tapering). The actual announcement could be postponed until the November or December meetings. The prospect of dismantling massive asset purchases has already weighed on the markets in recent weeks.
In the Asian markets, prices tend to slide in the morning. The Japanese Nikkei index is 0.8 percent lower at 29,608 points. The Shanghai stock exchange is quoted unchanged. The fact that the real estate company Evergrande wants to make a bond coupon payment of $ 35.9 million provided a slight reassurance in China. China Evergrande Group’s main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, said in a statement on Wednesday that it would settle the coupon payment for its 5.8 percent September 2025 onshore bond traded in Shenzhen punctually on Thursday, September 23 .
On the foreign exchange market, the euro stayed just above the mark of 1.17 dollars in the morning, the common currency currently costs 1.1722 dollars. Oil prices are climbing in early trading: A barrel of North Sea Brent is quoted this morning at $ 74.75, one percent higher than yesterday. The troy ounce of gold costs an unchanged $ 1,777.
In the DAX, the real estate merger between Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen is again attracting attention this morning. Vonovia has also made a purchase offer to the minority shareholders of the Deutsche Wohnen subsidiary GSW. Vonovia wants to pay the shareholders the statutory minimum price in a voluntary public takeover offer, and the transaction is expected to be completed in January 2022. According to GSW, 94 percent of GSW shares were held by Deutsche Wohnen at the end of last year, a good five percent by Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe and the rest in free float.
The shortage of microchips and electronic components will result in significantly reduced production and short-time work at Volkswagen’s main plant in Wolfsburg in the coming week. As a company spokesman announced on Tuesday evening, work will only be carried out on assembly line 3 in the morning shift in the coming week until Thursday. The other bands would then stand still. The company justified the step again with the persistently restricted supply situation for semiconductors. At the moment you drive on sight, said the spokesman.
VW competitor General Motors (GM) also suffers from the lack of chips. GM does not expect the situation to end quickly. The supply of semiconductor chips will initially stabilize at a level that is lower than the vehicle manufacturers would like, said GM President Mark Reuss at an industry conference. “We’ll see some stabilization before we reach the volume we really need.”
The US parcel delivery company suffered a decline in profits in the past quarter and conceded its annual forecast. Reasons include higher wage rates and higher spending on transport services. The current work environment has a significant impact on financial results. FedEx shares fell 3.8 percent after the hours. Adjusted net income fell seven percent to $ 1.19 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (ended August). In contrast, sales rose by around 14 percent to 22 billion.
Babbel puts IPO on hold
The German language learning provider Babbel has surprisingly put its IPO on hold. The Berlin company announced on Tuesday evening that it had decided together with the shareholders to postpone the project due to the currently unfavorable market conditions. The start of the shares in the regulated market (Prime Standard) was originally planned for this Friday. The Berlin start-up, founded in 2007, offered up to almost 13 million shares in a price range between 24 and 28 euros. The subscription period should run until September 22nd. Babbel had aimed for a stock exchange valuation of up to 1.26 billion euros.