VIENNA (dpa-AFX) – The Vienna Stock Exchange closed on Thursday after the price slumps of the previous day with little change. The ATX fell by a very moderate 0.03 percent to 3147.44 points after the leading domestic index fell by a remarkable 6.3 percent in the middle of the week in a very weak European environment due to the turbulence at Credit Suisse. In early trading on the day of the report, it was still on course for recovery.
The report that the major Swiss bank, which was under pressure, had applied for help from the central bank caused some relaxation internationally on the day of the report. The ailing major bank wants to borrow up to 50 billion francs from the Swiss National Bank. “Resolute measures to preventively strengthen” liquidity would be taken, it said.
In the afternoon, the announcement of the ECB’s key interest rate decision was in the focus of international investors. The key interest rate in the euro zone rises to 3.5 percent. The Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) resolved a further increase of 0.50 percentage points. This was mostly expected.
In Vienna, the heavily weighted bank stocks continued to fall after the previous day’s slide, in early trading they had still embarked on a recovery course. Erste Group became cheaper by 1.4 percent. BAWAG weakened by a further 0.8 percent. The shareholders of Raiffeisen Bank International, on the other hand, were able to post an increase of 0.7 percent. On Wednesday, the shares of the three banks fell between 6.8 and 9 percent.
Among the other heavyweights, OMV fell back slightly by 0.2 percent. Voestalpine gained 0.7 percent. In the technology sector, AT&S shares jumped 8.5 percent.
The association and SBO moved into the focus of investors with presentations of results. Verbund papers were reduced by one percent. In the past financial year, the electricity group benefited from the sharp rise in futures and spot market prices on the wholesale electricity market and doubled its key figures. The consolidated result increased by 97 percent to 1.72 billion euros. Erste Group experts assessed the results for the fourth quarter of 2022 as solid. The outlook for the 2023 financial year, on the other hand, was rated as weak.
Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield (SBO) shares gained 1.8 percent after falling around 8 percent on Wednesday. The Lower Austrian oilfield equipment supplier increased significantly in terms of profit and sales in the 2022 financial year. The bottom line was a net profit of 75.2 million euros, which is more than three times the previous year. Sales rose from EUR 292.8 million to EUR 501.2 million. According to analysts at Erste Group, the published figures did not bring any surprises, since the company had already presented preliminary results in January.
The Post share certificates weakened by 3.1 percent. The titles of the fiber manufacturer Lenzing fell 3.9 percent./ste/spa/APA/nas