Investors on Europe’s equity markets have continued to exercise caution in view of the uncertain market environment. the Dax hovered around its closing price from the previous day and closed slightly higher at 0.3 percent at 15,966 points. In contrast, positive company news drove the M-Dax to a record high. The index of medium-sized stocks rose by 0.8 percent to 36,011 points. Overall, however, geopolitical risks after the abrupt change of power in Afghanistan and the spread of the coronavirus variant Delta urged caution. Investors were hoping for new impetus from the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which were due to be published the evening after the stock market closed in Europe. There were significant price drops in the automotive stocks, which are considered to be very cyclical. In addition to the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, price pressure also continued to worry investors. In the Dax, the titles of Daimler were the second largest loser with minus 1.3 percent, followed by Volkswagen and BMW with discounts of 0.9 and 0.6 percent. In the M-Dax, the shares of Wacker Chemie rose by more than five percent. The chemical company has received a major order for solar silicon from China. The US-listed Chinese solar module manufacturer Jinkosolar secured access to a total of 70,000 tons of polysilicon by the end of 2026. In addition, according to information from its association VCI, the German chemical industry is building on the good start to the year and is heading for a record year. The papers of the shop pharmacy, which had come under strong pressure in the past few months, recovered somewhat and increased by one percent. Investors drew positive conclusions from the business figures of the Swiss mail order pharmacy Zur Rose.
Thanks to the clearly increasing demand for beer in China and Russia, Carlsberg also went up. The titles of the Danish group rose after a more optimistic outlook by 2.3 percent. “We do not rule out a further increase in the forecast for the third quarter when the headwinds from the pandemic subside,” state the Jefferies analysts.
It closed on Wall Street Dow Jones 1.1 percent in the red at 34,961 points.