market report
After the previous week’s losses, the DAX is on a gentle recovery course. Positive impulses for the German stock exchange barometer come from the USA, but the stock exchange heavyweight Apple has presented a strong balance sheet.
The DAX is preparing to reduce its previous weekly losses a little. The broker IG assesses the leading German index a good 0.4 percent higher at 15,790 points. In the course of the week, the Dax had meanwhile reached 16,012 points, its highest level since January 2022, but on a weekly basis it is currently 1.2 percent in the red.
According to experts, the breakout to the new high for the year above the psychologically important mark of 16,000 points was a “bull trap”, a false breakout on the upside. True to an old stock exchange rule, such false breakouts are always followed by dynamic price losses.
In addition, the seasonally weak phase on the stock markets also began in May. True to the “best six months” strategy, investors should stay away from the stock market from May to October and only return to the stock market after Halloween.
Tailwind for the DAX comes at the end of the week from Apple, and US futures have also picked up after the technology giant’s balance sheet: “Apple is one of the heavyweights that are always under special observation on the stock exchange. Good numbers weigh twice as much,” explained portfolio manager Thomas Altman from QC Partners.
The US group posted the second decline in quarterly sales in a row. However, the minus was only a little more than half as high as feared. Revenues from iPhones even grew surprisingly by 1.5 percent to $51.33 billion. On this basis, Apple boss Tim Cook announced a dividend of 0.24 dollars per share and a share buyback with a volume of another 90 billion dollars. Apple shares then rose 2 percent in after-hours trading in the US.
In regular business on Wall Street, ongoing concerns about the US banking sector weighed on prices. The leading US index Dow Jones lost 0.9 percent to 33,127 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.5 percent to 11,966 points and the broad S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 4,061 points.
Regional banks were under pressure again, with Western Alliance and PacWest stocks in particular suffering massive falls. “The continued downtrend in regional banks will pose a problem for the market as a whole,” said David Russell of online broker TradeStation. The Fed’s firm stance gives the short sellers “a license to kill the banks – especially the regional banks.”
There are no uniform signals from the Asian stock exchanges in the morning. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is currently down 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.6 percent. There is no trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange today due to a holiday.
The end of the week on the international markets now depends primarily on the US labor market report in the afternoon – the last highlight of the week after the key interest rate decisions by the Fed and the ECB.
“The ideal scenario for the stock exchanges is certainly a labor market that is stable but not booming or even overheating,” explained portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners. “Because in this scenario, the next meeting of the Fed after 10 rate hikes in a row can be the first meeting without a hike.”
The European Central Bank’s decision to take its foot off the gas a bit on its interest rate hike course in the fight against inflation had meanwhile clearly weakened the euro yesterday. In the morning, however, the European common currency is picking up again and gaining 0.2 percent to $1.1042.
A troy ounce of gold costs 2049 dollars in the morning. After the Fed interest rate decision, the yellow precious metal had shot up to $ 2,082 in the middle of the week – surpassing its previous all-time high of $ 2,075 from 2020 and setting a new record.
There will be small changes in the indices on the German stock market in the coming week: Evotec has to leave the MDAX because the certified annual report was not published on time, the pharmaceutical researcher was behind schedule due to a cyber attack. He is replaced by the solar technology manufacturer SMA Solar, for which in turn the semiconductor equipment supplier Süss Microtec is included in the index of the smaller values. The changes will take effect next Tuesday.
Tech investor Silver Lake has apparently responded to reports of a competing bid for Software AG without exceeding the purported purchase price. The new bid per share is now 32 euros per share, the company announced in the evening. The Bloomberg news agency, citing people familiar with the matter, had previously reported that the US financial investor Bain Capital had submitted an offer for 34 euros.
Google has confirmed that the internet giant will release a foldable smartphone. A short video shows a phone that folds open to form a tablet. Initially, there were no details about the device called Pixel Fold. However, reference was made to May 10, when the Google I/O developer conference takes place at the headquarters in Mountain View.