Market report
Status: 23.07.2021 7.45 a.m.
A slightly positive trend is expected for the start of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The many quarterly figures from US technology groups remain an important topic of conversation.
The unofficial early trading before the actual stock exchange opening in Frankfurt indicates a firmer trading opening. The indications of various banks on the DAX are in the range of 15,550 points and thus 0.2 percent higher than yesterday at the close of trading in electronic Xetra trading.
Tailwind from the ECB
Even if the initial reaction of the stock exchange was not particularly positive yesterday – the results of the ECB council meeting should not be detrimental to the stock market in the next few days in view of the lack of investment alternatives. The European Central Bank wants to support the economy with a very expansionary monetary policy for the foreseeable future. This emerges from the monetary policy outlook that the euro watchdogs around central bank chief Christine Lagarde reformulated at their interest rate meeting. The euro continued to trade below the US $ 1.18 mark this morning.
Tech stocks stronger than standard stocks
On the US stock exchanges, the papers on the Nasdaq technology exchange developed more dynamically than many “classic” stocks. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 14,684 points. The standard value index Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1 percent higher to 34,823 points. The broad S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 4367 points.
The latest labor market data proved to be a brake. In the past week, 419,000 Americans sought unemployment benefits. Experts had expected a decrease to 350,000 initial applications from 368,000 in the past week.
Oil price rises, Bitcoin stagnates
Meanwhile, the oil price rose again. The US variety WTI gained a good two percent to 71.74 dollars per barrel (159 liters). Even with the loosening of the production brake decided by the major oil-producing countries, demand will exceed supply in the coming months, the analysts at Bank Morgan Stanley forecast. In terms of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin barely expanded its recent price gains.
Intel raises forecast
After the end of regular stock exchange trading, a number of technology companies presented their quarterly figures. The persistently high demand for semiconductors makes Intel more confident. The US chip company, which is one of the few providers in the world not only to develop chips, but also to produce them, is now expecting revenues of $ 73.5 billion for the year as a whole instead of the previous $ 72.5 billion. In the second quarter, sales rose slightly by two percent to $ 18.5 billion. Analysts had expected a minus on average. Net income increased six percent to $ 5.2 billion. The Intel share was still more than two percent in after-hours trading.
Twitter is going better than expected
The short message service Twitter has clearly exceeded the expectations of analysts with its figures for the past quarter and the outlook for the next few months. The share rose in after-hours trading by more than five percent. Twitter’s revenue grew 74 percent year-on-year to just under $ 1.2 billion in the second quarter. A good billion had been expected on the market. The service took its first steps in the past quarter with its subscription product as an additional source of income to advertising revenues. For the current quarter, Twitter promised sales of up to $ 1.3 billion.
Jump in price at Snap
The photo app Snapchat registered strong popularity in the second quarter, which also boosted revenues. The number of daily active users increased in the three months to the end of June by 23 percent year-on-year to 293 million. The app thus achieved the strongest growth in four years. Revenues rose 116 percent to $ 982 million. Bottom line, Snap still made a loss of just under $ 152 million, but reduced the minus by 53 percent compared to the previous year. Snap shares gained nearly 18 percent after the hours.
Shop pharmacy suffers from lack of staff
The online drug retailer Shop Apotheke is more pessimistic about the year as a whole. The company announced that sales growth should only be 10 to 15 percent in 2021. Previously, Shop Apotheke had assumed around 20 percent. The company justified its gloomy expectations with “capacity bottlenecks in order processing in connection with a tense labor market situation, which became clearly apparent in the course of the second quarter”. However, these are “a temporary and isolated event that does not affect future growth prospects”.