FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The hope of a further easing of inflationary pressure gave the Dax (DAX 40) renewed momentum in the middle of the week. In the afternoon, the leading German index rose by 1.88 percent to 14,448.35 points, marking the third consecutive day of gains. The Dax also climbed to its highest level since mid-December. The MDAX for medium-sized German companies rose by 1.55 percent to 26,319.11 points. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) gained 2.17 percent to 3966.37 points.
“At the moment, the European stock exchanges are outstripping their counterparts in New York,” commented analyst Christian Henke from Broker IG. The rally that started at the beginning of the new year should continue, experts from broker ActivTrades added.
The stock exchanges are getting a tailwind from falling interest rates on the capital markets. There have recently been signs of relaxation in view of the high inflation. After German consumer prices for December had shown a further slowdown in inflation from a high level on Tuesday, French consumer prices and German import prices published on Wednesday pointed in the same direction. In addition, purchasing manager indices fell euro zone better than expected last month. Only French consumer confidence was disappointing. The local courses were also supported by the fact that the US stock exchanges, which were weak the day before, are showing moderate profits.
On the company side, the focus on the German market was on GRENKE and DIC Asset from the SDAX small-cap index. The Grenke stocks only initially benefited from the figures from the leasing specialist for new business: With a jump to EUR 23, they continued their recent rapid recovery and remained just below their interim high from November. But this is where investors lost their courage: The price increase shrank quickly. Most recently, the share lost almost one percent. The development of the contribution margin could have caused upset.
On the other hand, the shares in DIC Asset, which have also recovered recently, gained more than one percent, although the commercial real estate specialist just managed to reach the lower end of its target range for real estate sales last year. In November, the company lowered its earnings forecast for 2022 due to expected lower transactions and real estate management income. The rapid rise in interest rates hit real estate companies particularly hard, as financing costs skyrocketed.
Consumer stocks benefited from slowing inflation: Puma (PUMA SE) rose 3.7 percent to a high since September and adidas gained 3.5 percent. The papers of the online fashion retailer Zalando rose by 3.3 percent and HelloFresh by 5.5 percent.
The euro appreciated to $1.0614. On Tuesday, the European Central Bank set the reference rate at $1.0545.
On the bond market, the current yield fell from 2.35 percent on the previous day to 2.29 percent. The Rex bond index (REX overall price index) rose by 0.03 percent to 125.85 points. The Bund future gained 0.91 percent to 136.35 points./gl/jha/
— By Gerold Löhle, dpa-AFX —