After important US inflation data on Thursday, investors in Frankfurt are acting more cautiously.
The DAX started the session 0.52 percent higher at 16,775.92 points. The stock market barometer then falls back to zero and is now 0.15 percent higher at 16,714.22 points.
The day before, the German leading index was barely changed at 16,689 points. Things picked up slightly on Wall Street. The focus in the afternoon was on the US inflation figures, which were next to the US labor market are crucial for the Fed’s further interest rate policy. As expected, there was an increase in consumer prices in the USA in December, although at 3.4 percent it was higher than experts expected. In November the rate fell to 3.1 percent.
US inflation and key interest rates move the stock markets
After some aggressive interest rate increases, the Fed has recently left the key interest rate in the range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent three times in a row and could also pause at the end of the month. It is increasingly convinced that it can get inflation under control and therefore assumes that lower interest rates until the end of 2024 will be appropriate. The hope of rapid interest rate cuts drove the stock markets significantly higher in a pre-Christmas rally.
Bitcoin ETF approval in focus
Investors also keep an eye on the Bitcoin price. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first U.S.-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Wednesday.
Editorial team finanzen.net / dpa-AFX / Reuters