Europe’s equity markets edged up slightly ahead of the long Easter weekend. From the investor’s point of view, the European Central Bank was once again in no hurry with its upcoming interest rate manoeuvre. This weighed on the euro, which is an advantage for export-oriented stocks in particular. Of the dax closed 0.6 percent higher at 14,164 points on Maundy Thursday. The stock exchanges in Germany were closed on Good Friday.
In terms of individual stocks, shares from the aviation industry were particularly in demand. In the Dax, Airbus and MTU were among the favorites with increases of 1.7 and 2.8 percent respectively. The titles of the airport operator Fraport were up three percent among the top values in the M-Dax, in which the Lufthansa papers also rose by 2.7 percent. Airlines benefited from positive signals from low-cost carrier Wizz Air for the first quarter. The day before, good figures from Delta Air Lines had given the airlines’ papers a boost.
The biggest losers in the Dax were the titles from Volkswagen, which fell by 1.5 percent after the presentation of key data for the first quarter and sales figures. The shares of the medical and safety technology group Drägerwerk were also very weak in the S-Dax with minus 4.7 percent. Due to increasing difficulties in the delivery of electronic components, only reaching the lower end of the forecast range is to be expected, the company said. The titles of the online used car dealer Auto-1 easily put away their previous day’s weakness with a plus of more than twelve percent. In addition, the shares of the Südzucker Group and its subsidiary Cropenergies rose by 3.6 and 6.6 percent, respectively, according to key figures and statements on further business development.
Mixed corporate balance sheets dampened the mood on the US stock exchanges. Of the Dow Jones closed 0.3 percent lower, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index even fell by 2.1 percent. “Not many investors are now pushing into the technology space, particularly the highly valued technology space,” said portfolio manager Robert Pavlik of Dakota Wealth Management. Amazon and Apple shares fell 2.5 and 3 percent respectively.