Thanks to a strong recovery in technology and real estate stocks, the German stock market went up midweek. Statements by the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB) Philip Lane provided tailwind. They supported the hope of a less aggressive interest rate policy in the future. Support also came from US stock markets in the afternoon. There, too, technology stocks in particular gained ground.
The leading German index, the Dax, closed 1.23 percent higher at 15,328.78 points on Wednesday. The MDax of medium-sized stocks rose by 1.21 percent to 26,884.10 points and the most important European stock exchanges and the US stock exchanges also increased. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 climbed by 1.51 percent to 4231.27 points.
Philip Lane said in an interview with the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” that the ECB expects a “quick drop in inflation”. After the recent price turbulence and concerns about the banking sector, such statements came at just the right time for the optimists.
On the corporate side, the statements by the ECB’s chief economist helped real estate values in Europe in particular. The heavily leveraged industry is struggling with rising interest rates and inflation. The European industry index, which the day before had fallen to its lowest level since mid-October, took second place in the sector overview on Wednesday after technology stocks.
The shares of the residential real estate company Vonovia largely made up for their previous day’s losses with a price jump of 5.7 percent. In the MDax, TAG Immobilien recovered somewhat with a plus of 6.8 percent. In addition, after another record low this morning, Aroundtown stocks ended up slightly higher. The commercial property specialist is anticipating a significant decline in operating earnings in the current year. He also does not want to pay a dividend for 2022. There will only be one again in 2023.
Raised targets for the fiscal year by Infineon and a better-than-expected quarterly forecast by the largest US memory chip manufacturer, Micron, meanwhile boosted the European semiconductor industry. Infineon rose by 6.9 percent, in the MDax the papers of the supplier Aixtron advanced by 4.8 percent. Stockbrokers rated the statements of the US group as a signal that the worst in the sector could be over.
Adidas (up 3.7 percent) and Puma (up 3.2 percent) benefited from a convincing quarterly report and outlook from North American sporting goods manufacturer Lululemon. On the other hand, the fact that the Kuwaiti state is selling a good quarter of its Mercedes shares put the carmaker’s papers under pressure. They lost 2.1 percent at the end of the Dax.
The euro was trading at $1.0833 early in the evening. The ECB set the reference rate at 1.0847 (Tuesday: 1.0841) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9219 (0.9224) euros.
The prices of German Bunds rose. The current yield fell from 2.32 percent on the previous day to 2.30 percent. The Rex pension index rose by 0.23 percent to 126.38 points. The Bund future fell by 0.26 percent to 135.57 points.
