Tough start on the German stock market: on the last trading day before Christmas, the price fluctuations were initially manageable. The Dax quickly contained its initial gains again on Friday and was last up 0.10 percent at 13,928.16 points. Things went a little better for the MDax of medium-sized companies, which increased by 0.42 percent to 25,212.14 points. The leading eurozone index, the EuroStoxx 50, was almost flat with a slight minus.
Since the middle of the month, the leading German index has been struggling at the psychologically important hurdle at 14,000 points. Disappointment about the cycle of rate hikes in Europe and the USA that is likely to last longer abruptly ended the race to catch up that had started after the low for the year at the end of September. Another bitter pill for the market this week was the first signals from the Japanese central bank regarding a possible tightening of monetary policy.
In the course of trading, all eyes are on the USA, where further important data on the US economy are pending. The day before, robust economic indicators had once again fueled fears of rising interest rates on Wall Street.
In Germany, the Merck share certificates have recently increased in price by 0.8 percent and are therefore among the Dax favorites – the pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals group had previously announced an antibody cooperation and license agreement with the US company Mersana Therapeutics.
At the top of the index were shares in the tire manufacturer and auto supplier Continental with 1.3 percent, closely followed by shares in the dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) with a 1.2 percent premium.
TAG Immobilien’s shares, which have been badly hit this year, have meanwhile benefited from a positive analyst study – they have risen by almost four percent.
Uniper shares slipped 1.6 percent on their last day of trading in the SDax. The utility, which has since been nationalized, has to leave the index of smaller stocks because the free float has fallen below the necessary ten percent threshold. The state holds almost 99 percent of Uniper. After Christmas, the vacant place will be taken by the fuel cell manufacturer SFC Energy, whose price was recently 0.8 percent higher.
