VIENNA (dpa-AFX) – The Austrian leading index ATX came back somewhat from its record high on Thursday. After a predominantly positive trend, rising oil prices hampered developments in late trading. After struggling with the 5,900 point mark throughout the day, the ATX closed 0.28 percent lower at 5,865.47 points in the evening. However, Wednesday’s record high of almost 5,922 points remains within reach. The ATX Prime gained 0.33 percent to 2,900.91 points on Thursday.
In the European environment, initial gains also disappeared in the afternoon. Oil prices, an important indicator of inflation, rose again, with the Brent price rising to over $98. The development of energy prices therefore remains a central factor for inflation. As it became known on Thursday, goods and services in the euro area rose by an average of 2.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year, meaning that the EU statistics office Eurostat revised an initial estimate slightly upwards.
With a view to the individual stocks on the Vienna stock market, trading was largely low-impact and with manageable price movements. An exception were the AT&S shares, which topped the ATX with a gain of 5.8 percent. Across Europe, stocks from the industry benefited from strong figures from the Taiwanese heavyweight TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing). AT&S also recently received positive impulses from analysts. The shares have now gained 132 percent since the beginning of the year and are therefore the clear high-flyers in the Austrian leading index.
The shares of the oil and gas company OMV gained one percent against the backdrop of higher oil prices, while economically sensitive shares from banks fell. The stocks of the on-board caterer Do&Co lost 2.5 percent at the lower end of the ATX.
Outside the ATX, Vienna Airport’s traffic figures increased by 0.4 percent. Despite the collapse in traffic to the Middle East, the airport operator recorded higher passenger volumes overall. He also confirmed his forecast for the full year./spa/sto/APA/stw
