market report
No further upward jumps are expected for the DAX at the start of trading. The 17,000 point mark still remains within reach. On the US stock exchanges, however, new record levels were reached in the evening.
According to pre-market indications, the DAX is expected to start trading at 16,685 points. This corresponds almost to yesterday’s closing level on XETRA. At the start of the week, the leading German index had gained almost 0.8 percent to 16,883 points.
Yesterday the DAX was once again driven by bullish US stock markets. The Dow Jones Index closed 0.4 percent higher at 38,001 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.3 percent to 15,360 points. The broad S&P 500 index improved 0.2 percent to a record close of 4,850.
Investors once again turned their attention primarily to technology stocks, with continued reliance on increasing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products. “Investors are increasingly viewing these stocks as bulletproof because even if the global economy loses momentum, demand for AI products will remain strong, protecting corporate earnings from macroeconomic headwinds,” said Marios Hadjikyriacos, investment analyst at broker XM.
In Asia, the picture on the stock markets is rather gloomy. Investors in Japan were undecided this morning after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy. Japan’s Nikkei index slipped from its 34-year high following the move, closing 0.1 percent lower at 36,518 points. The broader Topix index rose 0.2 percent to 2,550 points.
In China, the government in Beijing wants to stabilize the country’s collapsing stock market, according to an agency report. Around $278 billion is to be mobilized, Bloomberg News reported. The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose briefly after the news, but recently fell by 0.2 percent and approached a five-year low. The Shanghai stock exchange lost 0.4 percent.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro has stabilized at around 1.09. The market continues to expect very rapid interest rate cuts in the USA, which tends to weaken the dollar against the European currency. Oil prices remain at the high levels of the past trading days. A barrel of North Sea Brent costs just under $80 in the morning. The troy ounce of gold is trading at $2,033, 0.4 percent higher than yesterday.
On the German stock market, technology stocks are likely to be the focus of investors again today. The stocks from Infineon and SAP are currently in demand in the DAX, as they benefit from the hype around the topic of artificial intelligence (AI).
The telecom provider Telefonica Deutschland will soon be leaving the MDAX of German listed companies from the second row, the index provider Stoxx announced this evening. The impending complete takeover of the German subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications group Telefonica also has consequences for its index listing. This means that Telefonica Deutschland no longer meets the condition of a free float of at least ten percent necessary for listing in the indices. The Luxembourg industrial recycler Befesa will be promoted to the MDAX on January 25th.
A decision is being made today at the Hamburg copper producer Aurubis to dismiss three of the four board members. In addition to CEO Roland Harings, CFO Rainer Verhoeven and Production Director Heiko Arnold would also lose their positions. The Supervisory Board would use the personal details to draw the conclusions from the millions in damages that Aurubis incurred after several cases of fraud and theft. The bottom line is that when the company presented its annual results for 2022/23 in December, it spoke of a shortage of metals of 169 million euros.
The airline United Airlines expects a significant loss for the current quarter because dozens of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft have to remain on the ground. United yesterday forecast an adjusted quarterly loss per share of between 35 and 85 cents. United has 79 aircraft of the type. The aircraft are to be subjected to an inspection after a door frame cover on one of the aircraft was torn off during the climb. It is unclear when the 737-9 Max will be allowed to fly again.