FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – After a strong start to the year, the Dax (DAX 40) weakened somewhat on Thursday. In early trading, the leading index lost 0.35 percent to 14,440.40 points, giving up a small part of its four percent gain over the past three days. Signs of easing inflationary pressure provided momentum at the beginning of the year.
The MDAX for medium-sized companies rose by 0.09 percent to 26,472.10 points on Thursday morning. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) lost 0.49 percent to 3954.55 points.
Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners spoke of a “breather” that was “absolutely normal and healthy for the market” after such a winning streak. Those who missed the positive start to the market, ran after it and had to buy had done so the day before, as can be seen from the stock market turnover. According to market expert Andreas Lipkow, the minutes of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which were presented the day before, are still having an effect. There, “express reference was once again made to a long phase of restrictive interest rate and money market policy”. “All the more attention will be directed to the US labor market data,” Lipkow expects.
The US labor market report for December by the private service provider ADP is due in the early afternoon. It is an important indicator for the monthly official employment figures, which are the economic peak of the week on Friday. The situation on the labor market is an important influencing factor for monetary policy the Fed, which is likely to raise interest rates further. The speed and extent of the interest rate hikes are currently the decisive factor for what is happening on the stock markets.
Among the individual values in the Dax, the shares of Deutsche Telekom (Deutsche Telekom) came into focus and increased by 0.7 percent. The subsidiary T-Mobile US surprisingly increased the number of its contract customers in the fourth quarter.
In the MDax, Lufthansa’s shares gained 0.9 percent and were pulled along by the positive mood in the industry after the low-cost airline Ryanair raised its fiscal year targets. The German airline itself had raised its profit target as early as mid-December due to high demand for flights, and this again and again.
Synlab (SYNLAB), on the other hand, fell by 5.9 percent in the SDAX, which one trader called “exaggerated”. The trigger is that the Portuguese antitrust authorities have initiated proceedings against two subsidiaries of the laboratory specialist. There are possible violations of competition law between 2016 and March 2022. However, one trader said: “This is negative for Synlab, but the drop in prices seems exaggerated. The allegations are country-specific and are limited to the activities of the two subsidiaries in this country.”
Analysts’ ratings were also moving. ProSiebenSat.1 (ProSiebenSat1 Media SE) was downgraded from “neutral” to “underperform” by Bank of America and the price target was capped from EUR 9.00 to EUR 7.10. The share lost 2.7 percent at the end of the MDax. Südzucker, meanwhile, was one of the favorites in the second-line stock index with a plus of 4.0 percent to EUR 17.26. Analyst Alexander Neuberger from Bankhaus Metzler wrote here that the prospects on the European sugar market had improved significantly and therefore now recommends buying the share, with a price target raised significantly from EUR 13.50 to EUR 22.40./ck/jha/