DThe German stock index Dax crossed the 16,000 mark on Thursday. At times, it was even close to its all-time high of 16,272 compared to last year. It was temporarily at 16,226 around noon, the highest level in about a year and a half. Investors were obviously quite optimistic in general, as the tailwind was provided by the good dynamics of the US stock market the day before. The euro hit a six-and-a-half-week low of $1.0817, which supported shares in export-oriented stocks such as auto stocks.
Low sales during holidays
However, on Ascension Day, turnover on the stock exchanges is usually lower, which can contribute to price fluctuations. Commerzbank, which released quarterly data on Wednesday and only recently returned to the Dax, has at times lifted the leading German index by more than 3 percent. However, she clearly lost the day before. The bank began 2023 with a jump in profits. However, his forecast for the rest of the year fell short of market expectations.
As investors took on more risk again, car prices were in demand in Dax in line with the overall strong trend in Europe on Thursday, with Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen gaining about two percent at times. On the other hand, security utilities like Eon were among the worst. Shares of Siemens Energy took advantage of the recommendation to buy from the American Citigroup and rose by 2.1 percent. Analyst Vivek Midha now sees an opportunity for the energy technology group to improve its bottom line. As for wind energy subsidiary Siemens Gamesa, he now sees encouraging signals. Shares of real estate group Vonovia and health care company Fresenius in particular suffered only optically high losses in the Dax, trading without dividends on Thursday.
Specifications from USA
The US leading index Dow Jones Industrial rose significantly on Wednesday. Two questions from the United States are currently troubling stockbrokers: one is how the debt ceiling for the US budget will hold up and whether there could be a default in June. Stock market traders have been a bit more bullish here lately. President Joe Biden and Congressman Kevin McCarthy reaffirmed their determination to reach an early agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. Another question is how the US Federal Reserve (Fed) rates will continue. Some investors are hoping not only for a pause in rate hikes, but even for rate cuts. “Markets will not stop hoping for lower interest rates,” writes French investment house Ostrum Asset Management in a market review.
Meanwhile, the price of gold appears to have taken a break from its meteoric rise. It is now trading below $2,000 per troy ounce (31.1 grams) again, having recently come very close to its all-time high. Two weeks ago, gold temporarily traded at $2,072.19 in Asia, just below the all-time high of $2,072.49 set in August 2020. On Thursday, the price was temporarily $1,976.
Source: Frantfurter Allgemeine
I work as an author at the World Herald News, a news website that also covers the economy. I have been writing about economic topics for over six years and have written extensively on topics such as unemployment, housing prices, and the stock market. My goal is to provide readers with expert insight into these important issues so they can make informed decisions.
