MARKETS EUROPE/Fixer – Banks benefit from rising interest rates

By Herbert Rude

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) — A friendly mood prevailed on Europe’s stock exchanges on Thursday. At midday, the DAX gained 0.8 percent to 14,441 points, making an attempt at the most recent recovery high, which was a good 14,550 points. According to the asset manager Blackrock, the rising prices on the stock exchange suggest that a majority of capital market participants consider a drastic economic downturn to be unlikely and that parts of the market consider a diplomatic solution in Ukraine to be at least a good possibility. The Euro Stoxx 50 rose by 0.8 percent to 3,913 points.

Hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve are largely ignored in the market as a whole. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had underlined the previous evening’s willingness to make interest rate increases of more than 25 basis points several times in the event of stronger inflation. US yields then shot higher. However, the financial stocks are benefiting from this, above all the stocks of the banks, whose Stoxx sector index leads the winners with a plus of 2.4 percent. The insurance index follows with an increase of 2 percent. In addition, the stocks of commodity-related Basic Resources continue to rise, and car values ​​can now recover after a long dry spell.

On the German market, Deutsche Bank gains 4 percent, Commerzbank 4.4 percent and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank 4.7 percent. Hannover Re will increase by a further 2.8 percent and Munich Re by 2.7 percent. Among the car stocks, BMW is up 2.4 percent.

On the losing side, Delivery Hero dropped another 3 percent. Symrise fell by 1.6 percent, Merck by 2 percent and Henkel by 1.1 percent.

Adidas searched for Nike – Nemetschek for numbers

Adidas gain 1.4 percent and Puma 2.3 percent after good business figures from Nike. “That’s the usual stock market reflex,” commented a retailer after Nike’s after-hours gain of 6 percent.

Nemetschek’s forecast for the year (+8%) is positive in retail. “Always nice to hear from someone who isn’t suffering from the Ukraine crisis and inflation,” says one trader. Such stocks should benefit from reallocations and elevated valuations. Nemetschek can fully take advantage of the willingness to spend in the booming construction sector, and inflation is countered by an increase in margins. For 2022, Nemetschek expects an increase in sales of 12 to 14 percent.

The shares of the Conti spin-off Vitesco rise by 8.6 percent to 34.80 euros. After the most recent setback, analysts recommend getting started: Citigroup recommends buying the shares with a price target of EUR 72. Salzgitter increase by a further 5.5 percent after the increase at the start of the week.

Tree markets – Hornbach asked – Kingfisher pressed

The pandemic continues to ensure boom at Hornbach. The hardware store share gains 2.2 percent at noon. In contrast, Kingfisher slumped by 5.3 percent. According to dealers, the outlook sounds confident. On a comparable basis, however, sales in the first quarter fell by 8.1 percent.

Air Liquide with Capital Markets Day

Air Liquide shares in Paris are down 1.5 percent. The previous statements and forecasts from the Capital Markets Day are described as conservative. The new medium-term goals envisage growth of 5 to 6 percent per year until 2025. The industrial gases maker’s operating margin is expected to increase by 160 basis points during this period. Jefferies said they expected growth of around 6 percent per year with a margin of around 180 basis points. Some investors may be disappointed that a major share buyback has not been announced.

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Stock index last +/-% absolute +/-% YTD

Euro Stoxx 50 3,912.62 +0.8% 30.82 -9.0%

Stoxx 50 3,695.45 +0.6% 21.65 -3.2%

DAX 14,441.46 +0.8% 114.49 -9.1%

MDAX 31,821.45 +0.4% 139.78 -9.4%

TecDAX 3,279.10 -0.1% -3.99 -16.4%

SDAX 14,758.25 +0.8% 118.58 -10.1%

FTSE 7,474.61 +0.4% 32.22 +0.8%

CAC 6,622.49 +0.6% 40.16 -7.4%

Fixed income market last absolute +/- YTD

German ten-year return 0.50 +0.03 +0.68

US 10-year yield 2.34 +0.05 +0.83

FOREX last +/- % Tue, 8:19 am Mon, 5:13 pm % YTD

EUR/USD 1.0997 -0.2% 1.0968 1.1049 -3.3%

EUR/JPY 132.94 +1.0% 132.05 131.63 +1.6%

EUR/CHF 1.0275 -0.1% 1.0273 1.0275 -1.0%

EUR/GBP 0.8323 -0.6% 0.8351 0.8367 -1.0%

USD/JPY 120.87 +1.2% 120.42 119.14 +5.0%

GBP/USD 1.3215 +0.4% 1.3133 1.3205 -2.3%

USD/CNH (Offshore) 6.3778 +0.1% 6.3718 6.3663 +0.4%

Bitcoin

BTC/USD 42,910.50 +4.3% 42,311.74 41,129.53 -7.2%

ROHL last VT-Settl. +/- % +/- USD % YTD

WTI/Nymex 112.02 112.12 -0.1% -0.10 +50.5%

Brent/ICE 116.10 115.62 +0.4% 0.48 +50.6%

METALS last day before +/- % +/- USD % YTD

Gold (Spot) 1,927.84 1,936.23 -0.4% -8.39 +5.4%

Silver (Spot) 25.11 25.23 -0.5% -0.12 +7.7%

Platinum (Spot) 1,031.70 1,040.96 -0.9% -9.26 +6.3%

Copper Future 4.71 4.70 +0.2% +0.01 +5.5%

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DJG/hru/flf

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2022 07:36 ET (11:36 GMT)