After a weak September, the German stock market started October with losses. Right at the start of trading on Friday, it sagged Dax initially below the 15,000 point mark, limited its losses a little by the end of trading and dropped 0.7 percent at 15,156 points. Investment strategist Michael Hewson from brokerage firm CMC Markets warned of stormy weeks. Rising energy prices, electricity shortages, supply chain disruptions and rising inflation made investors nervous. The latest data showed that consumer prices in the euro zone climbed to their highest level since 2008 in September. In the Dax, investors took profits on numerous stocks: shares in the laboratory service provider Sartorius, for example, fell by 6.1 percent, bringing up the rear. The day before, the investors had sought refuge in the corona winner company. In return, the shares of the utility Eon, which had been thrown out of the depots the day before, were in demand at the top of the Dax with a 1.9 percent premium. The titles of BMW benefited from the increased earnings forecast of the car manufacturer. With a premium of 1.3 percent, they were among the top favorites in the Dax. BMW had raised its targets because the prices for used and new cars are rising and this outweighs the headwind from the semiconductor bottlenecks. After details of the truck division’s IPO were announced, Daimler shares were also among the winners. Daimler Trucks is set to debut on the stock exchange in December and plans to pay a dividend for the first time in 2023. Daimler shares advanced 0.9 percent.
A sell recommendation by analysts from Exane BNP weighed on the M-Dax of Telefonica Deutschland, the papers went down by 6.4 percent.
The US stock exchanges started the new month with slight gains. Of the Dow Jones quoted 0.8 percent higher at mid-trading. The news about a new corona drug from the US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., which is intended to significantly reduce the likelihood of very severe courses in high-risk patients, sparked enthusiasm among investors. The price of the Merck share soared by almost ten percent.