FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – A late price recovery on the New York stock market the day before helped the Dax (DAX 40) get back on its feet on Friday. The leading index shook off the negative surprise from the US inflation data published the day before and rose by 0.80 percent to 16,679.27 points around midday. Analysts at ING Bank stated that there was no change in interest rate expectations after US inflation was slightly higher than expected.
The MDAX of medium-sized stocks rose by 0.85 percent to 26,290.60 points. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) rose by 0.8 percent.
The next highlights are likely to be set in the afternoon by the quarterly balance sheets of large US banks such as JPMorgan (JPMorgan ChaseCo), Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo (Wells FargoCo). According to Thomas Altmann, portfolio manager at asset manager QC Partners, the quarterly reports must now show whether the impressive year-end rally on the stock market is also underpinned by strong profits.
The aircraft manufacturer Airbus (Airbus SE (ex EADS)) delivered 735 commercial aircraft last year despite strained supply chains, over 200 more than its troubled US competitor Boeing. At the same time, customers ordered more than 2,000 new Airbus jets – an industry record. Investors rewarded this, and Airbus shares climbed again to unprecedented heights, most recently increasing by 2.4 percent.
The car manufacturer Porsche sold slightly more sports and off-road vehicles last year. Sales grew in almost all regions of the world – although they collapsed in the most important car market, China. Porsche shares continued their decline at minus 2.2 percent.
A military strike by the USA and allies against the Houthi rebels in Yemen caused prices in the arms sector to rise. The strikes came on Friday night in response to repeated attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis against ships in the Red Sea. The arms sector usually reacts with significant price increases in armed conflicts, as happened with Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas. On Friday, Rheinmetall hit a record high in the Dax and recently gained 1.5 percent. In the MDax, HENSOLDT increased by 4.4 percent.
The bank Morgan Stanley lowered its thumb for some chemical stocks. Affected are Brenntag (Brenntag SE), LANXESS and WACKER CHEMIE. Lanxess and Wacker Chemie fell by up to 2.2 percent, while Brenntag bucked the negative trend.
Furthermore, Südzucker’s shares in the SDAX small-cap index lost 6.9 percent as a result of a double downgrade by Warburg Research. Analyst Oliver Schwarz changed his buy recommendation to a sell recommendation. Südzucker is facing profit erosion, he wrote. Drägerwerk, however, upgraded Warburg to “Buy”, to which the medical and security technology provider’s stocks responded with a premium of 3.9 percent./ajx/jha/
— By Achim Jüngling, dpa-AFX —