The German stock market fell on Thursday ahead of the interest rate decision by the European Central Bank (ECB). The majority of economists believe that the ECB will raise key interest rates again by a significant 0.75 percentage points. The central bank is likely to react to the record inflation in the euro zone, which has recently reached an annual rate of almost ten percent.
The Dax fell in early trading by 0.36 percent to 13,148.75 points after reaching its highest level since mid-September in the middle of the week. The MDax for medium-sized stocks fell by 0.76 percent to 24,026.91 points. The EuroStoxx 50, the stock market barometer for the euro zone, fell by 0.45 percent.
The company’s reporting season also remains in focus. A booming maintenance business and the strong US dollar are boosting the business expectations of the Munich engine manufacturer MTU. However, this was not enough to give the stocks, which were already strong in October, an additional boost. Instead, investors cashed in first, and the papers fell by around two percent below the weakest values in the Dax.
The consumer goods group Beiersdorf is becoming more optimistic thanks to continued robust development and has raised its sales forecast. However, this was already expected, wrote analyst Celine Pannuti from the US bank JPMorgan. The shares lost more than two percent at the end of the Dax.
Daimler Truck managed to surprise investors with a new outlook. After an unexpectedly strong third quarter, the truck and bus manufacturer had raised its financial targets for the full year. This means that the share certificates among the best values in the Dax rose by a good two percent.
The price swings in the MDax were even clearer. Nemetschek shares fell by almost eight percent at the end of the index. Despite decent growth in the third quarter, the construction software specialist is sticking to its annual forecast.
Software AG investors had to cope with a drop of almost three percent. The company had made less sales in important areas than experts had expected.
After a good run recently, Aixtron’s shares had a discount of around five percent. Continued high demand and the introduction of new systems for semiconductor production make the machine manufacturer somewhat more optimistic for 2022. However, the company disappointed with its business figures for the third quarter.
Hellofresh, on the other hand, provided a positive exclamation mark: The meal kit supplier did slightly better than analysts had predicted in terms of sales thanks to higher average order values and the sale of additional products. The papers took the lead in the index with an increase of almost four percent. (dpa)