Dhe rally on Europe’s stock markets picked up speed on Thursday and carried the Dax to its highest level in twelve months. Buoyed by a price jump at Siemens, the leading German index effortlessly overcame the important chart technical hurdle of 15,500 points and gained up to 1.5 percent to 15,641 points. It was as high as it was before the outbreak of war in Ukraine and is still around 650 points away from its all-time high.
Investors were also in a jubilant mood on the other European stock exchanges: The Euro Stoxx 50 rose by 1.5 percent to 4273 points and was higher than it had been since January 2022. The British leading index FTSE 100 marked a record high. “Rising prices are forcing investors who are not yet positioned or even on the wrong side to jump on the bandwagon, regardless of any indicators,” said Jürgen Molnar, capital market strategist at broker RoboMarkets. “The good mood is contagious and fundamental framework conditions are taking a back seat.”
The most recent inflation data eased the situation. At an average of 8.7 percent in January, consumer prices in Germany did not rise as strongly as expected compared to the same month last year. Economists had expected 8.9 percent. “For monetary policy, the basic picture of inflation remains quite clear: Inflation, especially the core rate, is still far too high, which is why the ECB is staying on a tightening course for the time being,” said NordLB chief economist Christian Lips.
Siemens course increases by almost 9 percent
The euro climbed half a percent to $1.0760. Government bonds also ended up in the depots, which pushed the yield on ten-year federal bonds by around seven basis points to 2.293 percent.
A strong start in the first quarter and a raised outlook from Siemens drove the shares of the industrial group by 8.6 percent to EUR 152.16 – the highest level since mid-January 2022. Apart from a few blemishes, the figures and outlook are clearly positive, said DZ Bank analyst Alexander Hauenstein. “Our estimates were too conservative.” Siemens Energy’s shares rose by more than three percent.
Bayer was also a big topic of conversation on the trading floor after the group announced a change of boss on Wednesday evening shortly before the close of trading: Werner Baumann takes his hat prematurely, followed by ex-Roche manager William Anderson. Bayer shares initially climbed another 5.1 percent after closing six percent higher on Wednesday.
Market analyst Frank Sohlleder from the trading house ActivTrades summarized the change in leadership as fueling speculation as to whether the agricultural and pharmaceutical group might be about to split up. However, investors took profits in the course of the morning, the papers turned slightly into the red.
Standard Chartered takeover rumours
In London, Standard Chartered rose more than 9 percent. Bloomberg agency reported that First Abu Dhabi Bank is preparing a $30-35 billion cash offer for the Asia-focused bank. Better-than-expected business figures also drove AstraZeneca shares by more than four percent.
In Zurich, Credit Suisse shares fell by more than five percent. The major Swiss bank reported the worst result since the financial crisis for the past year due to the costs of restructuring the group and weak investment banking. The bottom line was a loss of 7.3 billion francs after a minus of 1.7 billion francs in the previous year.