Despite persistent interest rate and economic concerns, investors grabbed shares on Friday. Of the dax rose after the recent losses by 1.5 percent to 14,284 points. Stockbrokers expect, however, that profits could soon melt away again. “There is a lack of positive news,” said Thomas Altmann from the investment advisor QC Partners. The war in Ukraine and the resulting consequences remained the number one risk factor. In addition, however, the prospect of rapidly rising interest rates in the USA also caused headaches. In view of massive inflation of 7.9 percent, the financial markets are expecting unusually large interest rate hikes of half a percentage point each in May and June. Interest rate speculation for financial stocks pushed the stock markets higher. With rising interest rates, the industry can expect higher profits from the classic lending business. The European industry index increased by 2.3 percent. In the Dax, Deutsche Bank shares were among the top favorites with a plus of 3.9 percent. Credit Agricole’s investment in Banco BPM caused enthusiasm on the Milan Stock Exchange. The shares of the Italian financial institution rose by ten percent. Credit Agricole was down 0.4 percent in Paris. The French bank announced on Thursday that it had acquired a 9.18 percent stake in Italy’s third largest financial institution.
The M-Dax was also booming: takeover speculation drove Scout24 up by 13.7 percent. Dealers referred to a media report that the investors Hellman & Friedman, EQT and Permira had expressed interest in Scout24. Shares in ticket retailer CTS Eventim rose 7.5 percent and benefited from an upgrade by private bank Berenberg. A recommendation from JPMorgan also helped K+S stocks to rise by 9.5 percent, meaning that the price has more than doubled since the beginning of the year.
There was no unified trend on Wall Street. During the Dow Jones After trading up 0.4 percent, technology stocks were again among the losers. Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet stocks were down as much as 1.9 percent. Tesla shares fell 3 percent.