VIENNA (dpa-AFX) – The Vienna Stock Exchange ended trading on Wednesday with higher prices. The leading domestic index ATX ended the third trading day of this stock exchange year with a price increase. The leading index had to give up part of its gains at times, but there was still an increase of 0.45 percent to 3212.45 units. The broader ATX Prime rose even more significantly by 0.55 percent to 1610.04 points.
The upward trend on the domestic market was embedded in a friendly European stock market environment, even if weak US data caused a brief damper in the ATX curve in the afternoon. Markets are currently being supported primarily by the easing of inflationary pressures in Europe and the resulting hope that the ECB’s monetary policy stance could ease somewhat. The declining inflation in Germany, which was published on Tuesday, had recently somewhat dampened concerns about further interest rate increases, according to market experts at Helaba.
Figures published today from France also point in this direction, because inflation there has also weakened. In addition, the price increase for goods imported into Germany has continued to fall significantly, it was announced on Wednesday. In addition, business sentiment in the euro area continued to improve at the end of 2022. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index rose 1.5 points month-on-month to 49.3 in December.
The experts at Helaba also emphasized that there is hope for an economic recovery in China. “Although the high number of infections is causing uncertainty, the end of the zero-Covid policy could help stabilize economic development,” say the institute’s market experts. According to a survey, US industry, on the other hand, accelerated its decline before the turn of the year. The purchasing managers’ index for the sector fell to 48.4 points in December from 49.0 points in November, analysts had only expected a decline to 48.5 points.
In Vienna, stimulating reports on individual companies and from analysts remained scarce in the middle of the week. In a sector comparison, banks were at the top of the list of price gainers and also provided a boost for the ATX. Raiffeisen Bank International (Raiffeisen) climbed 4.8 percent, Erste Group (Erste Group Bank) rose 3.3 percent and BAWAG gained 2.3 percent.
On the other hand, oil values held up. The oil sector was weak across Europe, with oil prices extending their losses on Wednesday afternoon. Concerns about demand had put prices under pressure since the beginning of the year. The shares of Schoeller-Bleckmann fell by 3.7 percent in response, OMV fell by 3.6 percent. The association’s utility stocks were also very weak. They lost around five percent.
Lenzing again saw the strongest price movement on Wednesday. The papers of the fiber manufacturer had already gained more than six percent in the past trading days, on Wednesday the papers continued the strong upward trend and closed 5.5 percent higher./kat/sto/APA/ngu