Fears of a significant economic slump on both sides of the Atlantic are growing on the European stock markets. Investors fear that rising interest rates in the US and the war in Ukraine could hit the global economy hard. Of the dax slipped back below the 14,000 point mark on Thursday. At its peak, the leading index lost 2.3 percent. At the end of trading, it was still 0.9 percent lower at 13,882 points. The US stock markets had already rushed into the basement on Wednesday. “Buzzwords like recession and slump in profits are doing the rounds on the trading floor,” said Thomas Altmann from the investment advisor QC Partners. Fewer and fewer believed that the US Federal Reserve would be able to achieve a soft landing for the US economy.
Many technology stocks were among the losers following a sales warning from Cisco. The US telecom equipment maker shocked investors with the news that the corona lockdowns in China and other supply disruptions will roughly halve sales growth in the current quarter. Cisco shares fell 14 percent in US trading. This also affected the papers of the semiconductor group Infineon, which fell by 1.9 percent at times, but recently worked into the plus. The titles of Wacker Chemie, which is geared towards the chip industry, were among the weaker M-Dax values at minus 1.7 percent.
Car values were also under pressure. The shares of Mercedes Benz and Daimler Truck fell the most, with losses of 2.3 and 2.6 percent, respectively. The sector in Europe has only partially recovered since hitting a 16-month low in March on the back of the Ukraine war. Concerns about rising fuel costs and supply chain issues are also weighing on the sector. The share of the electronics retailer Ceconomy was negative with a price drop of seven percent. Most recently, large US retail companies such as Walmart and Target had warned of falling sales and shocked investors with reduced annual targets.
Prices found no clear direction on Wall Street. During the Dow Jones finally 0.8 percent lower, the index of the technology exchange Nasdaq went out of trading almost unchanged.