Stock exchange in Frankfurt
Quiet start to the week after a strong previous week for the Dax
The Dax is the most important stock index in Germany. photo
© Fredrik von Erichsen/dpa
After the strong previous week, investors are taking things a little easier on Monday. The Dax moved little in early trading: it recently fell slightly by 0.02 percent to 15,186 points. At the same time, the MDax was 0.09 percent lower at 25,114 points. Meanwhile, the EuroStoxx 50 was just slightly positive.
After the strong previous week, investors are taking things a little easier on Monday. The Dax moved little in early trading: it recently fell slightly by 0.02 percent to 15,186 points. The At the same time, MDax was 0.09 percent lower at 25,114 points. Meanwhile, the EuroStoxx 50 was just slightly positive.
Last week, the US Federal Reserve left the key interest rate unchanged, but with its accompanying statements it fueled investors’ hopes that the interest rate peak could have been reached. This was also matched by US labor market data that was weaker than expected on Friday.
After an increase of almost three and a half percent in the previous week, it will be difficult for the Dax to build on its impressive gains, expects market expert Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners. “Investors now have to weigh up the ongoing high geopolitical risks and the recent positive news from the central banks and the US labor market.” According to market expert Martin Utschneider from Finanzethos, a groundbreaking test is still pending with the upper short-term downward trend line.
The market as a whole did not receive any directional impulses from the reporting season, which is only expected to make headlines again later in the week. In the coming days, numerous companies from the DAX index family will again present preliminary or final figures and provide outlooks. The most important reporting days are Wednesday and Thursday.
On Monday it was mainly analyst comments that moved individual stocks. However, some of these were tough: with a six percent discount, K+S shares suffered greatly from a sell recommendation from UBS. Analyst Priyanka Patel misses earnings momentum in both the short and longer term. There are no signs of rising prices for the potash company in 2024.
The major Swiss bank has abandoned its buy recommendation for Heidelberg Materials, which impacted the shares of the building materials group in the Dax by 1.8 percent. In his study, analyst Gregor Kuglitsch fears possible expensive takeovers as a temporary negative factor. This overshadowed the investment story despite a favorable valuation and a good fundamental situation in the cement industry.
There were even larger price losses of six percent for Evotec. The Canadian bank RBC has downgraded the active ingredient researcher to “Sector Perform” after a change in analysts and capped the price target. Analyst Charles Weston sees enormous uncertainty for the business figures in the short term given the difficult life sciences industry, competitive pressure, recovery from a cyber attack and required investments.
Vonovia came to the bottom of the Dax, and they acknowledged their latest rally, driven by interest rate hopes, to the highest level since February with a setback of 2.3 percent. In addition, the Metzler bank now advises selling the shares. Analyst Jochen Schmitt expects the operating result (FFO) to decline moderately in 2024.
The list of price-relevant analyst reclassifications went even further: upgrades at BMW and Siemens had a positive effect, with price gains of just over one percent. BMW is now positively recommended with “Outperform” by Bernstein Research and Siemens by the investment bank Oddo BHF.