FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The German stock market fell on Tuesday afternoon. The DAX fell below the highly regarded mark of 24,000 points and was most recently 0.6 percent lower at 23,934 points. The MDAX lost 1.1 percent to 30,043 points. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 fell by 0.5 percent.
“There is currently a pronounced stalemate between bulls and bears on the German stock market. Market participants alternate between willingness to buy and take profits almost every hour,” observed market expert Timo Emden. Geopolitically, the situation also remains tense and largely deadlocked: “The Iran conflict appears increasingly blocked, with no clear signs of a de-escalation or further escalation in the short term,” said Emden.
Given the continued high oil prices, current economic and inflation concerns continue. In this respect, the interest rate decisions in Japan, Europe and the USA this week are of particular interest. In Japan, the key interest rate remained unchanged, as the Bank of Japan announced this morning. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) will follow suit on Wednesday. The decisions of the ECB and the Bank of England are on the agenda for Thursday. “Investors are likely to be looking for indications as to whether the wait-and-see attitude of many central banks will be maintained or whether interest rate increases will be signaled for one of the next meetings,” wrote Commerzbank expert Alexander Krämer.
A reduction in QIAGEN’s annual targets put massive pressure on the shares of the laboratory service provider and diagnostics provider as the bottom of the DAX with minus 6.3 percent. By 2026 they will have already lost a good 20 percent. A trader warned this morning of further losses despite the already low price level, as growth had almost completely disappeared. In the first quarter, sales fell by one percent.
Bayer shares reacted with a price decline of 3.1 percent to a hearing before the US Supreme Court in the multi-billion dollar US glyphosate litigation. This means they have almost completely used up their meager share price gain over the course of the year so far. A Supreme Court decision in the Durnell case is expected at the end of June. Bayer is hoping that a positive fundamental ruling could help bring this expensive issue to a close in the foreseeable future. While the market sees the hearing negatively, the tone among experts has so far been neutral to positive.
The shares of the Deutsche Börse (Deutsche Börse) increased by 0.4 percent according to quarterly figures and confirmed annual targets. The stock exchange operator earned significantly more in the first quarter thanks to good business in financial market products. CFO Jens Schulte sees the group “fully on track” to achieve its annual targets for 2026. The higher earnings momentum is likely to continue, wrote analyst Roland Pfänden from the investment bank Oddo BHF. The results exceeded expectations.
Salzgitter’s plans to sell its own shares caused the steel company’s shares, which were clearly the weakest value in the MDax, to collapse by more than 9 percent. The aim of the measure is to increase the free float – an actually positive aim. In discussions with investors, it has repeatedly become clear that the liquidity of the share is perceived as an obstacle to commitment, particularly by larger investors, said Salzgitter. Salzgitter’s free float currently amounts to just over 34 percent.
The shares of Init Innovation (init innovation in traffic systems SE) jumped 12.5 percent to their highest level in more than six months after a major order. As the IT service provider for public transport announced, it received the contract from the central transport authority of the Australian state of New South Wales to modernize the ticket systems of the Sydney Opal network. The authority estimates the order volume to be the equivalent of around 377 million euros over a period of ten years, it said.
The shares of Henkel (Henkel vz) fell – purely visually – by 1.12 euros to 62.92 euros. They will be traded on Tuesday with a dividend discount of 2.07 euros per share./edh/jha/
— By Eduard Holetic, dpa-AFX —
