The war situation in the Middle East is causing increasing concern for investors on the German stock market. The leading German index ended trading on Wednesday with a discount of 1.03 percent to 15,094.91 points. The MDax of medium-sized companies fell by 1.10 percent to 24,702.33 points.
The situation in the Middle East remains very tense after a rocket hit a hospital in the Gaza Strip. Traders fear a further escalation of the war between the Islamist Hamas and Israel. In search of security, investors turned to gold in the middle of the week. The price of the precious metal rose to its highest level since the beginning of August.
Business figures from Adidas provided bright spots on the German stock market. The sporting goods manufacturer also raised its annual targets. In the Dax, the shares topped the very short list of winners with a price increase of 3.2 percent. Competitor Puma’s stocks in the MDax also benefited from the positive news with a gain of 1.5 percent. At the bottom of the leading index were the shares of the real estate group Vonovia with minus 3.8 percent and the shares of the laboratory equipment supplier Sartorius, which had been weak for days, with minus 3.5 percent.
The Lufthansa shares came under pressure from several sides. The US airline United Airlines was disappointed with its profit forecast for the current quarter. The US bank Citigroup removed its buy recommendation for Lufthansa shares. Bomb threats at several airports in France also did not help the sector. Lufthansa lost 3.5 percent.
In the commercial vehicle sector, the mood was better across Europe. This was due on the one hand to a robust quarterly report from the Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo, and on the other hand to an increase in corporate targets by the truck supplier SAF Holland. Its shares rose by 5.9 percent in the SDax small-cap index.
After a slump in business last year, Flatexdegiro increased significantly again in the last quarter, which gave the online broker’s shares a 13 percent price jump at the top of the SDax.
The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 closed with minus 1.12 percent at 4105.86 points. The leading indices in Paris and London were similarly weak. In New York, the leading barometer Dow Jones Industrial was half a percent lower at the end of European trading, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 lost 0.7 percent.
The euro gave way. After the Xetra exchange closed, the common currency cost 1.0531 US dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate in the afternoon at 1.0565 (Tuesday: 1.0569) dollars, which means the dollar cost 0.9465 (0.9461) euros.
On the German bond market, the current yield rose from 2.81 percent the day before to 2.91 percent. The Rex bond index fell by 0.28 percent to 122.77 points. The Bund future lost 0.23 percent to 127.77 points.
