VIENNA (dpa-AFX) – The Vienna stock market ended trading slightly higher on Thursday. The leading index ATX increased by 0.22 percent to 3385.65 points. Clearer growth prevailed on the leading European stock exchanges. The ATX was slowed down by the discounts on the heavyweights Raiffeisen Bank International (Raiffeisen) (RBI) and OMV.
The topic of the day on the financial markets was the ECB interest rate decision. With the fifth rate hike as a result, the euro currency guardians brace themselves against the persistently high inflation. As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) is again raising the key interest rate in the euro area by 0.50 percentage points to 3.0 percent. A further interest rate hike of the same magnitude has already been announced for the next monetary policy meeting on March 16th.
RBI stocks fell 2.2 percent. Industry colleague Erste Group (Erste Group Bank) saw an increase of 2.5 percent. The OMV shares reacted to the presentation of business figures with a sharp fall of 4.7 percent.
The oil, gas and chemical group presented results for the past 2022 financial year. Analysts at Erste Group rated the results for the fourth quarter as disappointing and below market expectations. The random profits tax and price cap in Romania, lower profits in the chemical sector and inventory valuations were blamed by the experts for the results being below forecasts.
Oil stocks were shunned across Europe on the reporting day. The shares of the Lower Austrian oil field supplier Schoeller-Bleckman fell by 4.1 percent. Crude oil prices also fell further after the significant losses of the previous day.
The AT&S papers, on the other hand, increased by a significant 5.2 percent according to figures. Across Europe, technology stocks were very popular with investors after the Nasdaq had again trended very strongly over the course of the year. The day before, the printed circuit board manufacturer’s stocks had slipped by almost eight percent after the group had lowered its expectations for the 2022/23 financial year. The Styrian company made significantly higher profits in the first three quarters of the 2022/23 financial year, it was announced on Thursday.
Palfinger (Palfinger) climbed 1.8 percent to 28.70 euros. The Deutsche Bank analysts have increased their target price for shares in the Salzburg crane manufacturer from 38 to 40 euros. The “Buy” recommendation was confirmed at the same time.
There was also a noticeable price movement at Lenzing. The fiber maker’s papers gained 5.4 percent. The Porr share weakened to the same extent by 5.4 percent. Wienerberger climbed by three percent./ste/spa/APA/jha