market report
The DAX is expected to be slightly up in the morning, but without much momentum. Rather weak specifications from the USA initially slow down the mood to buy. Meanwhile, the reporting season for companies is in full swing.
Just below the mark of 16,000 points, at 15,970 points, the German stock market index is expected to start on XETRA according to pre-market indications. This corresponds to a small increase of 0.2 percent. The high for the year of 16,011 points reached last week remains within reach.
However, the requirements for German retail are rather mixed. After last Friday’s strong recovery, the US stock exchanges made no further progress yesterday. The Dow Jones fell 0.2 percent to 33,619 points. The market-wide S&P 500 went up 0.1 percent to 4138 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3 percent to 13,292 points. US inflation data due tomorrow are considered to be the most important benchmark for the central bank’s interest rate policy. According to experts, the market is likely to be slowed down by then.
Market events in Asia are more positive. Supported by a good earnings season for steel manufacturers, the Japanese Nikkei index is 0.8 percent higher at 29,174 points. The broader Topix index rose one percent to 2093 points. The Shanghai stock exchange was up 0.3 percent. The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen gained 0.4 percent.
Investors in China are initially unimpressed by the country’s rather weak export data. As Beijing Customs announced today, exports rose by 8.5 percent to 295.4 billion US dollars compared to the previous year. However, the increase was lower than in the previous month, when an increase of 14.8 percent was recorded. China is aiming for a significant economic upswing this year after the end of its strict corona policy.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro continues to hover around the $1.10 mark, which it had significantly exceeded several times in the past week. In the morning, one euro costs a little less again at 1.0991 euros. The price of oil has also become somewhat cheaper. A barrel of North Sea Brent was listed in early trading at $76.60, about 0.3 percent below yesterday’s level. The price for a troy ounce of gold at 2026 is slightly above yesterday’s level.
In the DAX and the second-tier indices, a number of companies are attracting attention with the latest business figures. The truck group Daimler Truck achieved significantly higher profits in the first quarter thanks to high demand and an improved supply of semiconductors. From January to March, Daimler Truck increased sales by 15 percent compared to the prior-year quarter to a good 125,000 units. Sales increased by 25 percent to 13.2 billion euros, the group result almost tripled to 795 million euros.
The healthcare group Fresenius also got off to a surprisingly good start in the new year. While sales in the first quarter rose by five percent year-on-year to 10.2 billion euros, the group had to accept a drop in profits. However, the operating result adjusted for special effects fell by nine percent to EUR 908 million, which was significantly better than analysts had expected. The Fresenius boss Michal Sen, who has been in office since October, had prescribed a new strategy and tightened austerity measures for the troubled group this spring. Savings of around 130 million euros were achieved in the reporting period.
The telecom equipment supplier Adva Optical from the SDAX has confirmed its forecast for the current year after record sales in the first quarter. In the first quarter, however, the increase in sales of around five percent to 179 million euros fell short of the forecast. The reason for this was, among other things, delivery bottlenecks. Operating profit increased by around a quarter to $9.7 million in the first three months. However, due to special expenses, among other things, the surplus fell by 41 percent to 3.6 million euros.
PayPal increased its profit in the first quarter thanks to cost cutting. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.17, up from $0.88 last year. Sales improved by ten percent to $7.04 billion. The payment volume increased by twelve percent to 354.5 billion dollars. For the full year, PayPal expects earnings to increase by around 20 percent to $4.95 per share.