FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The German stock market continued its recovery with significant price gains on Wednesday before the eagerly awaited monetary policy signals from the US Federal Reserve. In the late morning, the Dax (DAX 40) was 2.09 percent higher at 15,440.34 points. The leading index has thus made up for around a third of its loss since the high for the year on January 5th. The MDAX recently gained 2.45 percent to 33,217.83 points.
The evening’s focus will be on the Fed’s interest rate decision and in particular the press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Many experts expect the announcement of an imminent interest rate hike. Even more important for the market than the turnaround in interest rates are indications of the pace of tightening. However, it is hardly possible to surprise the markets on the restrictive side, since a lot has already been priced in, Commerzbank’s foreign exchange market experts recently explained.
Among the stocks, shares of Airbus (Airbus SE (ex EADS)) are in the spotlight on Wednesday. At the aviation and defense group, the helicopter business recovered a good bit from the Corona crisis in 2021. The number of deliveries rose from 300 in the previous year to 338 helicopters. That was also more than the 332 machines from the pre-crisis year 2019. The recovery was also clear in terms of orders. The aircraft manufacturer’s papers soared by 5.2 percent and were the frontrunners in the Dax.
WACKER CHEMIE shares advanced by 7.0 percent. The chemical group, which specializes in the solar and semiconductor industries, got off to a good start in the new year. “The high demand continues beyond the turn of the year,” said CEO Christian Hartel. In 2021, Wacker benefited from the construction boom and ongoing digitalization in many parts of the world, among other things. According to the information, the net profit multiplied to 780 million euros.
Aareal Bank’s investors don’t seem to like the increased takeover offer from financial investors Advent and Centerbridge. The shares of the real estate financier stagnated at 27.86 euros. In the pre-market business, they had reacted to the offer on the Tradegate trading platform with a price increase of 8 percent and had risen above the 30 euro mark, the highest level in almost two years. Advent and Centerbridge bowed to the pressure from major shareholders and raised their bid for the Wiesbaden company from 29 to 31 euros.
The Lufthansa shares (Lufthansa) jumped 6.2 percent. The analysis house Stifel had upgraded the airline’s shares from “hold” to “buy” and raised the price target from 6 to 10 euros. The biggest worries have been eliminated and Lufthansa is facing strong summer business, wrote analyst Johannes Braun./edh/stk
— By Eduard Holetic, dpa-AFX —