market report
Interest rate fantasies are keeping the buying mood on the German stock market high. The DAX surpassed the psychologically important mark of 18,000 points for the first time in early trading.
In the middle of the week, the DAX broke the 18,000 point mark for the first time in its history – albeit only just: after the stock market opened, the leading German index rose to 18,001.42 points, but then quickly slipped back below the round mark. This means that the DAX only needed three months to break the next thousand mark.
With the record high, the DAX is sending a buy signal – the best that technical analysis has to offer. “The upward trend in the DAX is very strong,” emphasizes Jörg Scherer, Head of Technical Analysis at HSBC. Therefore, investors who oppose this trend would have to be very careful.
Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners now sees the DAX “back on the road to success”. What was particularly striking was that the profits the day before were accompanied by an above-average trading volume, emphasized Altmann, highlighting the continued positive mood on the stock exchanges.
But what is it that has been driving prices up for months? Above all, it is the prospect of interest rates falling soon in the USA and the euro area. Even the unexpected increase in US inflation data on Tuesday could not dampen investors’ buying mood. Investors are now focusing more on the overarching prospect of interest rate cuts; the pace is not entirely decisive, said CMC market analyst Jochen Stanzl.
Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners now sees the DAX “back on the road to success”. What was particularly striking was that the profits the day before were accompanied by an above-average trading volume, emphasized Altmann, highlighting the continued positive mood on the stock exchanges.
“At the moment it is enough that there is no negative surprise in the really big numbers like the US inflation rate yesterday to drive the market further up.” From a technical perspective, however, he warned, the DAX remains “continued to be overbought”.
Positive guidelines for DAX trading also come from Wall Street. The Dow Jones index of standard stocks closed 0.6 percent higher at 39,005 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.5 percent to 16,265 points. The broad S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to a record close of 5,175 points.
Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market continued its losing streak this morning. The leading Nikkei index fell for the third day in a row and ended trading with a loss of 0.3 percent to 38,696 points. Speculation about a change in monetary policy by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) continues to dampen buying sentiment: many investors expect that the Japanese central bank will raise short-term interest rates out of negative territory either next week or in April at the latest.
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the euro remains above the $1.09 mark. The European common currency is trending sideways at $1.0927. There is also little movement on the gold market: a troy ounce of gold costs $2,159 this morning, 0.1 percent more than the day before.
Three companies in the DAX opened their books this morning: E.ON, Zalando and Adidas. E.ON announced that it would invest 42 billion euros in the energy transition across Europe from 2024 to 2028 – significantly more than previously planned. The group also confirmed the key data for the 2023 financial year presented at the beginning of February. According to this, the Essen-based company earned 9.4 billion euros in daily business, 16 percent more than a year earlier.
After a loss in 2023, Germany’s largest sporting goods manufacturer Adidas wants to grow significantly again in the sporting year of 2024 with the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games. CEO Bjørn Gulden expects an operating result of 500 million euros – after 268 million euros in 2023. The bottom line was a loss of 58 million euros last year. Nevertheless, Adidas wants to pay its shareholders a dividend of 0.70 euros per share, as in the previous year.
Thanks to austerity measures, Zalando almost quintupled its profit last year despite weak sales. The bottom line is that the surplus shot up from 16.8 to 83.0 million euros. The adjusted operating result almost doubled to 350 million euros. Europe’s largest online fashion retailer also promised a return to growth when it presented its balance sheet.
The Aroundtown subsidiary Grand City Properties does not want to pay a dividend for 2023. The company justified this with further increased uncertainty on the markets. The board of directors has now decided on the step. Grand City Properties wants to continue to focus on reducing debt.
After the strike in Frankfurt, the flight attendants of Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline in Munich are resigning from their jobs today. According to the company’s estimates, 400 flights with 50,000 passengers will not be able to take off there. At the same time, negotiations with ver.di for Lufthansa employees on the ground are to continue from today.
After the attack on the power supply at his car factory in Grünheide, the Tesla factory boss is concerned about the safety of his employees. “Of course there are concerns,” said plant manager Andre Thierig to “Wirtschaftswoche”. Some employees asked him “whether it was dangerous to wear Tesla clothing outside the factory.” The company therefore turned to the authorities for support. Production has now started again.
Boeing delivered significantly fewer aircraft from the important 737 Max family in February while it examined its production lines. 17 aircraft went to airline customers, according to Boeing figures published yesterday. Boeing delivered 25 Max aircraft in January and more than 40 in November and December.