The Dax hardly changed on Tuesday despite setting a record. At the end of trading, the leading German index was down 0.02 percent at 16,791.74 points – before that it had set another record of 16,837 points. The year-end rally since the low in October brought it an increase of almost 15 percent. So far in 2023, the DAX has gained almost 21 percent.
Neither the domestic ZEW economic expectations nor the eagerly awaited US consumer prices ultimately gave the German leading index any clear impetus. It remains to be seen whether the interest rate decisions in New York and Frankfurt on Wednesday evening and Thursday respectively will give it further momentum.
The MDax of medium-sized companies closed 0.15 percent lower at 26,582.80 points on Tuesday. The Eurozone index EuroStoxx also ended a little weaker after reaching its highest level since 2007 during trading.
Despite reaching a record level, the French Cac 40 also ultimately fell somewhat, while the British FTSE 100 barely budged. The New York leading index Dow Jones Industrial was moderately in profit at the close of trading in Europe.
The ZEW economic expectations of German financial experts improved for the fifth month in a row in December. More important for investors, however, were US consumer prices, which could have a signaling effect on the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy course, but showed a further weakening, as expected. Inflation in the USA fell again slightly to 3.1 percent in November. The widely watched core inflation rate remained unchanged.
On the corporate side, attention was focused on Carl Zeiss Meditec based on financial figures. The medical technology group’s results were not convincing, but according to traders, the outlook was better than recently feared. The shares therefore continued their recovery and rose by 6.5 percent.
Hannover Re also made statements about the outlook at an investor day, which were rewarded with a share price increase of 2.1 percent and the top spot on the DAX. At minus 2.5 percent, the shares of Merck KGaA appeared weak in the Dax. They suffered from a downgrade by the French investment bank Exane BNP Paribas. The failure with the multiple sclerosis drug evobrutinib was a serious blow to the pharmaceutical division, wrote analyst Gary Steventon.
Aurubis was one of the weakest MDax stocks with a price decline of 3.6 percent. The copper company’s investment plans proved to be a burden.
The euro showed little movement at 1.0786 US dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) had previously set the reference rate at $1.0804.
On the bond market, the current yield fell from 2.28 percent the day before to 2.25 percent. The Rex bond index, however, rose by 0.13 percent to 126.68 points. The Bund future rose by 0.14 percent to 135.02 points.
