Supported by strong gains on the US stock markets, the Dax again cleared the hurdle of 15,800 points on Friday. New hopes of a pause in the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike cycle had fueled prices on the other side of the Atlantic the day before. The best-known Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial, had passed the 34,000 mark again after two months. However, the interest-sensitive technology stocks went up particularly significantly.
In early Friday trading, the leading German index rose by 0.51 percent to 15,810.08 points. It is now the fifth trading day in a row with profits. For the shortened trading week after Easter, there was an increase of 1.4 percent. On Wednesday, the Dax had climbed over 15,800 points for the first time since the beginning of last year, but then fell back somewhat.
The MDax of medium-sized stock market stocks rose by 0.98 percent to 27,832.53 points on Friday morning. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 gained 0.36 percent to 4378.87 points.
“The German stock market is resilient,” experts at Landesbank Helaba said. “It is to be hoped that the forthcoming US numbers will not contribute to an increase in economic concerns.” But even if that were to happen, interest rate concerns would tend to ease, which in turn would benefit the stock market, they suspected.
March retail sales were expected from the US on Friday afternoon. According to the Helaba experts, a certain disillusionment had set in after a robust start to the year. They consider a decline in total sales to be likely, mainly because of statements from car dealers. According to them, however, industrial production, which will be announced a little later, should have increased.
The start of the reporting season in the USA is being eagerly awaited, as the major US banks JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are releasing their quarterly figures. Investors should look to see if and to what extent the recent difficulties in US regional banks after the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) have also left their mark on the balance sheets of the large investment houses.
Covestro shares were among the favorites in the Dax on Friday morning, up 1.9 percent. The plastics manufacturer had surprisingly announced key data for the first quarter of the year the previous evening. In a difficult industry environment, Covestro had to accept significant business losses, but the operating result collapsed far less than feared.
With a plus of 2.5 percent, Vonovia’s shares were at the top of the leading index, and real estate stocks were also among the favorites in the MDax and SDax. Hensoldt jumped to EUR 36.24 at the start of trading and thus to a record high. Most recently it went up by a good two percent. In the ARD program “Wirtschaft vor Acht” on Thursday evening, the German armaments manufacturer was presented, among other things. As a result, the share price soared on after-hours trading platforms.
