market report
On the first trading day after Christmas, the signs point to price gains in the DAX. The stock market barometer could add a little more to its strong annual increase – thanks to good guidance from Wall Street.
The DAX is likely to start the first trading day after the Christmas holidays with a premium. The broker IG currently values German standard values 0.4 percent higher at 16,777 points. After its rapid rally since the end of October, the DAX had recently run out of steam. On Friday it only recorded a small increase of 0.1 percent to 16,706 points. Over the week, the leading index fell by around 0.3 percent.
Nevertheless, 2023 was a good year for stocks, with the DAX having recorded a price increase of almost 20 percent since the beginning of the year. Critical voices believe that the record high of 17,003 points two weeks ago could have been a false breakout. So far there has only been slight profit-taking, and there are no signs of a major correction – yet. The positive seasonality at the end of the year also supports the prices.
Good guidelines for DAX trading come from Wall Street in the middle of the week, where trading started again yesterday. The Dow Jones index of standard stocks recorded an increase of 0.4 percent to 37,546 points with thin sales. The broader S&P 500 also closed 0.4 percent higher at 4,774 points. The Nasdaq technology exchange index gained 0.6 percent to 15,074 points.
“Everyone is still enjoying the fruits of last week’s rally and expectations of significantly lower interest rates,” said Michael James, head of equity trading at Wedbush Securities. According to a survey, 83 percent of traders expect the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points in March.
The Asian stock markets cannot escape the good guidance from Wall Street and are increasing across the board in the morning. The Japanese leading index Nikkei, which includes 225 stocks, closed trading with an increase of 1.1 percent to 33,681 points. The Shanghai stock exchange is currently up 0.3 percent.
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the euro has hardly moved against the dollar. One euro currently costs 1.1037 dollars. Most recently, the expectation of falling US interest rates from March weakened the dollar. Currency traders expect little stimulus in the further course of trading. Important economic data from the euro area or the USA is not on the agenda today.
Oil prices are holding close to their monthly highs recorded yesterday in early trading. A barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent costs $80.81 in the morning. Market participants pointed to the sources of conflict in the Middle East, including rocket attacks by the Yemeni Houthi rebels on cargo ships in the Red Sea, which could lead to a shortage of oil supplies. At the same time, optimism about Fed interest rate cuts is fueling hopes of higher demand.