FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The German stock market largely held its ground on the last trading day of Christmas week. In quiet business, the DAX rose by 0.20 percent to 19,888.03 points on Friday afternoon. The MDAX, however, fell by 0.07 percent to 25,688.05 points. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 rose by around 0.4 percent.
After a record of over 20,500 points in mid-December, the Dax recently went into a correction. Profit-taking dominated the picture at the end of a strong year. There is currently uncertainty, especially with regard to the interest rate of the US Federal Reserve, the economic policy under the designated US President Donald Trump and the hoped-for economic recovery in China. Nevertheless, the annual balance of the German leading index is outstanding with an increase of almost 19 percent.
From a corporate perspective, Delivery Hero shares are in investor focus after Taiwan’s competition authority banned the sale of Foodpanda’s business in Taiwan. In early trading they fell to their lowest level since the end of August and were most recently down 5.0 percent. The US driving and delivery service Uber wanted to acquire the division for almost one billion US dollars. The announcement is a clear negative point for the food supplier, said JPMorgan analyst Marcus Diebel.
The news that HelloFresh wants to buy back its own shares for a further 75 million euros helped the meal kit retailer’s shares to gain a price premium of 1.6 percent. The buyback is primarily intended to offset the dilution resulting from the regular allocations under the company’s employee stock ownership programs due in 2025, it said.
Hornbach Holding (HORNBACH) has to look for a new chief financial officer. Karin Dohm will be leaving the company at her own request by March 31 at the latest, Hornbach announced. CEO Albrecht Hornbach will also take over the office on an interim basis if there is not a seamless transition, it was said. The Hornbach shares rose by 2.5 percent.
In addition, the plastics company Covestro, which was about to be taken over, had to leave the DAX this Friday because the free float fell below 10 percent. In the MDAX, from which the dialysis specialist FMC (Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) St) was promoted to the DAX, the housing group Deutsche Wohnen (Deutsche Wohnen SE), which belongs to Vonovia (Vanovia SE (ex Deutsche Annington)), moved out of the SDAX. The laser specialist LPKF (LPKF LaserElectronics) was subsequently included in the SDax./edh/mis
— By Eduard Holetic, dpa-AFX —