After his days of lethargy with courses between 12,800 and 12,900 points, theDax clearly decided on Thursday to go down. The leading index dropped by a good 300 points to 12,524.84 points, which meant a minus of 2.3 percent. The MDax of medium-sized stocks fell on Thursday by 1.4 percent to 26,463 points, the Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 lost 1.5 percent.
Market participants named the reasons for the rising number of coronavirus infections, even weaker growth in Germany than previously expected, and the lack of agreement in the USA on another economic program. In addition, some groups disappointed with their quarterly figures, including Volkswagen, Fresenius and Deutsche Börse and HeidelbergCement. The evening after the US market closes, the American heavyweights from the tech sector open the books with Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.
According to analyst Jochen Stanzl from CMC Markets, the stock market is burdened by the fact that an agreement on another stimulus package is not yet in sight in the USA. The Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Decisions however, the previous evening hadn’t been surprising. The Fed maintains its zero interest rate policy and wants to keep interest rates low until the US economy has overcome the current crisis. Ultimately, the containment of the coronavirus pandemic will be crucial, it said.
Shares of Volkswagen by numbers over 5.5 percent. The carmaker slipped in the corona crisis deep in the red and now wants to distribute less to shareholders than initially thought. The leading index was only worse Wirecard with minus seven percent. Deutsche Börse and Fresenius SE also gave in noticeably after the figures were presented.
In the MDax, Kion was hit with minus seven and a half percent. The forklift manufacturer expects orders this year to be significantly lower than in the previous year. The bright spots were the shares of Freenet with an increase of about 5 percent according to a buy recommendation from Berenberg Bank and Airbus with plus 2.7 percent according to numbers. At the aircraft manufacturer, traders and analysts praised the lower cash outflow.
Euro unaffected by the economic downturn
The euro has temporarily stopped on Thursday. In the morning, the common currency was trading at $ 1.1750 after having stood at $ 1.1790 the previous night. The European Central Bank (ECB) last set the reference rate at $ 1.1725 on Wednesday afternoon.
A dollar weakness the previous evening had given the euro a boost. With the release of monetary policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve, the rate of the common currency temporarily rose above the $ 1.18 mark and reached the highest level since September 2018 at $ 1.1806. However, the Fed showed no further easing of its Had brought monetary policy into play, which gave the dollar some boost again.
An unexpectedly strong economic downturn in Germany in the second quarter could not push the euro exchange rate further down in the morning. In the months from April to June, the German economy shrank by 10.1 percent in a quarterly comparison due to the Corona crisis. It was the sharpest drop since quarterly GDP calculations began in 1970.
Oil prices hold gains from the previous day
Oil prices moved little on Thursday. In early trading, they were unable to match the price gains from the previous day and fell slightly. In the morning, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost $ 43.68. That was seven cents less than the previous day. The price of a barrel of the American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety fell by nine cents to $ 41.18.
As a result, oil prices were able to almost maintain the previous day’s gains. Market watchers estimate that they are supported by the recent development of oil reserves in the United States. It was announced on Wednesday that US inventories had dropped surprisingly by 10.6 million barrels last week. A decline in US reserves generally leads to rising prices on the oil market.
In the further course of trading, investors should have a number of important economic data in view. Among other things, an estimate of economic performance in the US in the second quarter is expected in the afternoon, which could also provide impetus for the oil market.
The oil market is heading for the third consecutive month of rising prices in July. Recently, however, the dynamic in price growth has weakened significantly and experts do not want to rule out price dampers in August. Above all, the price development on the oil market is slowed down by concerns about a second wave of infections in the Corona crisis. In addition, important funding states in which Opec + is organized will increase their funding volume again somewhat in August.