Easy to win, easy to lose: The price recovery on Wednesday was wasted just one day later. The Dax lost 1.30 percent on Thursday to 13,914.07 points. Robust economic data from the USA “burst into the positive pre-Christmas mood”, as analyst Konstantin Oldenburger from broker CMC Markets wrote. The strong labor market in the USA and consumers willing to buy despite high prices argue against the US Federal Reserve slowing down the pace of interest rate hikes.
When prices also tumbled on Wall Street, this increased the pressure on the Dax in the afternoon. Weekly data from the US labor market had once again underpinned its strength. In the end, the MDax fell by 1.50 percent to 25,105.45 points.
A pessimistic business forecast by the US chip manufacturer Micron Technology weighed on the mood in the European semiconductor industry. According to Micron, the industry’s largest oversupply in more than a decade is likely to make it more difficult to return to profitability. Infineon lost three percent in the Dax and ASML and STMicroelectronics also fell significantly on the Euronext stock exchange.
The automotive stocks were among the biggest losers in the Dax. Volkswagen, for example, lost a good four percent at the bottom of the Dax. Porsche AG, Continental, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Holding fell by 2.4 to 3 percent.
Uniper papers liked
Rheinmetall, on the other hand, continued the price recovery after the severe setback on Tuesday with a plus of 2.4 percent. The armaments company wants to work with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) to repair the defective Puma infantry fighting vehicle in the next two to three weeks. On Tuesday, the problems with the tank weighed heavily on the Rheinmetall price, but the price losses have now been ironed out.
The papers of the fuel cell manufacturer SFC Energy recorded a plus of 1.7 percent, which will be included in the SDax of the small stock exchanges on December 27th. For this, the shares of the gas importer Uniper have to leave the index after its nationalization. Uniper fell by 5.5 percent.
The wholesaler Metro is selling its Indian business to the local retail giant Reliance. The separation is strategically correct, wrote analyst Volker Bosse from Baader Bank. Metro did not manage to build up the subsidiary on the subcontinent to become the three largest wholesalers. Metro gained 1.9 percent.
Europe-wide losses
Stock markets across Europe reported losses. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 closed 1.26 percent lower at 3823.29 points. The French Cac 40 fell by around one percent. London’s FTSE 100 held up better with a modest decline. A weak pound, which can improve the competitive opportunities of British companies, helped here. The leading US index Dow Jones Industrial was 1.5 percent lower at the end of trading in Europe.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro gave back initial gains, falling below US$ 1.06 and last costing US$ 1.0589. The European Central Bank (ECB) had previously set the reference rate at $1.0633.
The upward trend in interest rates continued on the bond market. The current yield rose to 2.30 percent from 2.27 percent the previous day. The Rex pension index fell by 0.11 percent to 126.50 points. The Bund future lost 0.46 percent in the evening to 135.21 points.
