market report
The interest rate concerns that have recently emerged are already receding into the background on the markets. Thanks to good guidance from Wall Street, the DAX should once again attack the round mark of 17,000 points.
Although interest rate prospects have recently deteriorated, the markets are already pushing upwards again. The specifications from Wall Street are apparently too good for the DAX to evade them: The broker IG currently estimates the leading German index 0.3 percent higher at 16,996 points.
The day before, the DAX had approached the support zone at 16,800 points, but had not broken through it. The recovery that followed is still having an impact today and is giving the German standard values a boost towards the important 17,000 point mark. However, the DAX has not yet been able to break through this sustainably.
Tailwind for the DAX comes from Wall Street: the US stock exchanges turned positive in the middle of the week after the sharp price losses on Tuesday. The Dow Jones index of standard stocks closed 0.4 percent higher at 38,424 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.3 percent to 15,859 positions. The broad S&P 500 gained one percent to 5,000 points.
Among other things, the analysts spoke of a bargain hunt after the indices closed by almost two percent in the red on Tuesday. The reason was new data that pointed to surprisingly tough US inflation. This had fueled concerns in the markets that the US Federal Reserve could further postpone the interest rate turnaround that investors were eagerly awaiting.
The good guidelines from Wall Street are also having an impact on the Japanese stock market. The leading index Nikkei rose to a new 34-year high during trading and finally closed with an increase of 1.2 percent to 38,158 points.
Prices are also fueled by hopes that the Japanese central bank, the Bank of Japan, will have to continue its ultra-loose monetary policy for longer than expected. Data today showed that Japan unexpectedly slipped into a technical recession. The gross domestic product (GDP) also fell in the October to December period, two quarters in a row.
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the euro is trading at $1.0731, roughly at the previous day’s level. Meanwhile, the gold price continues to be affected by the changed interest rate outlook and the stronger dollar. A troy ounce of gold costs $1,992 this morning.
Among the individual stocks in the DAX, the Commerzbank share came into focus with its numbers. The interest rate turnaround helped the financial institution make a record profit last year. The surplus climbed from a good 1.4 billion euros to just over 2.2 billion euros within a year. The bank thus achieved its best result in 15 years. CEO Manfred Knof announced that the bank would “increase the group result again in the current year”.
The world’s largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus wants to significantly increase its production in 2024. A total of around 800 commercial vehicles will find their way to customers, around 65 more than last year. The operating result adjusted for special items (adjusted EBIT) is expected to increase to 6.5 to 7 billion euros. Given that the coffers are full, Airbus wants to pay out a special dividend of 1.00 euros per share to its shareholders in addition to a stable regular dividend of 1.80 euros.
The energy company RWE has built additional battery storage systems. Three storage facilities with a capacity of 190 megawatts have now been completed in the US states of Texas and Arizona. The new storage systems are directly linked to solar systems. “In this way, excess electricity can be stored directly and fed into the grid at a later date,” explained a spokeswoman.
By removing several businesses from the network and converting them into legally independent subsidiaries, the chemical company BASF wants to become more profitable again. “Ultimately it’s about improving performance and being closer to the customer and competing even harder,” said CFO Dirk Elvermann to the news agencies dpa-AFX and dpa.
The interrogation of ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn is to continue today (10 a.m.) in the billion-dollar investor trial regarding the VW diesel affair. The 76-year-old has been invited as a witness in the civil case under the Capital Investor Model Procedure Act (KapMug). On the first day of his testimony yesterday, Winterkorn denied any responsibility for the diesel affair.
Because of bleak business prospects, Cisco is pessimistic about the future and wants to lay off thousands of employees. The network supplier announced yesterday that five percent of the total of almost 85,000 jobs would be cut. The cost of this was $800 million. The US group wants to concentrate more on the software and artificial intelligence (AI) business in the future.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, angry about the US state of Delaware, has moved the official headquarters of his space company SpaceX to Texas. The 52-year-old is angry that a judge in Delaware does not want to grant him a share package worth around $56 billion in the electric car manufacturer Tesla, which he also runs.