The aid from the Swiss central bank for the ailing Credit Suisse acted as an immediate calming pill for the German stock market on Thursday.
After the price slide the day before, the Dax climbed by 1.47 percent to 14,952.03 points in the first few minutes of trading before the eagerly awaited key interest rate decision by the European Central Bank (ECB). A broad recovery in bank stocks also had a supportive effect.
The MDax index for medium-sized companies rose by 1.66 percent to 27,236.77 points in the morning. The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index in the euro zone, advanced by almost 1.7 percent.
The day before, the German leading index Dax had fallen by more than three percent to its lowest level since the beginning of January – the trigger had been concerns about the ailing major Swiss bank after the turbulence surrounding three US banks had shaken the markets at the beginning of the week.
The price capers in the banking sector had once again fueled hopes that the central banks would take a more moderate approach in their fight against high inflation. While the ECB was still generally expected to raise the key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, the recent bank difficulties would have “opened the door a little for an increase of only 25 basis points,” wrote market observer Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners.
