The DAX entered the day of the key interest rate decision in the Eurozone almost unchanged. As the situation progresses, investors appear fickle.
The DAX opened on Thursday at 15,652.41 points with a minimal loss of 0.01 percent. After short-term gains, the stock market barometer is currently down 0.21 percent to 15,620.79 points.
Nervousness is high before what is probably the most important event of the week: the day before, the stock market barometer temporarily fell to its lowest level since mid-August, but then recovered somewhat. Data on US inflation, on the other hand, left investors quite cold. For the week so far, there is currently a loss of a good half a percent in the DAX.
All eyes are on the ECB’s key interest rate decision
With a view to the key interest rate decision by the European Central Bank (ECB), things are getting exciting: Experts are more divided than ever before, and there is also great uncertainty on the financial markets as to what the monetary authorities will decide. Will the central bankers continue their fight against inflation with a further increase in key interest rates – or will they hold still for the first time since interest rate tightening began in the summer of 2022? The ECB has to weigh up between the deteriorating economy and the persistent inflation in prices. The market will know the answer by early afternoon. Until then, investors are likely to continue to act defensively, as they have in recent days.
For Ralf Runde and Ulrich Wortberg from the Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba), there are clear arguments for a break in interest rates: For example, there are clear signs of relaxation in terms of inflation pressure, at least in the preliminary stages. However, the experts assume that ECB President Christine Lagarde Even in the event that the central bank maintains the current interest rate, one thing should be emphasized: “That a break should not be confused with the end of the interest rate cycle.” Financial analyst Christian Reicherter from DZ Bank also believes that the restrictive key interest rate level is likely to remain in place for a long time.
New US economic data expected
The ECB’s key interest rate decision is undoubtedly the top topic of the day on Thursday. However, the US data on producer price developments and retail sales are also seen as important in the afternoon.
The focus is also on oil prices, which remain close to the ten-month highs marked the day before. After the OPEC oil cartel and the US authority EIA, the International Energy Agency also warned on Wednesday that oil supplies were too low. In the second half of the year there was a supply deficit of an average of 1.2 million barrels per day, the institution said. OPEC expects a deficit of more than three million barrels a day for the fourth quarter. It would be the largest deficit in at least a decade.
Editorial team finanzen.net / dpa (AFX) / Dow Jones Newswires