Thanks to good US bank figures, the Dax climbed to 15,841 points on Friday, its highest level since January 2022. However, the euphoria quickly subsided – at the end of trading, the leading German index was still up 0.50 percent to 15,807.50 points. On a weekly basis, it increased by 1.3 percent – the record of 16,290 points from November 2021 is only around three percent or less than 500 points missing.
The MDax of medium-sized stocks saved a price increase of 0.82 percent on Friday with 27,788.48 points. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 ended the day 0.63 percent higher at 4390.75 points. In Paris and London things also went uphill. In contrast, the leading US index Dow Jones Industrial and the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 were down after initial gains at the end of European trading.
According to the quarterly figures of the US competitors, the shares of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank occupied the top Dax places with price gains of 4.6 and 5.7 respectively. Industry giant JPMorgan raised its profit target for 2023, and Citigroup also surprised with a first-quarter profit jump. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo had to write off less than feared. After the recent turbulence in the banking sector, these first annual reports from major US banks had been eagerly awaited – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will follow next week.
Real estate stocks were also in focus. Vonovia was in demand in the Dax with a plus of 3.1 percent, and the industry was also one of the favorites of investors in the MDax and the SDax small-cap index. However, in 2023 it is one of the worst-performing ones so far, because the rise in interest rates hit the bank.
Covestro shares rose 2.5 percent thanks to strong key data for the first quarter. In a difficult industry environment, the plastics manufacturer had to accept significant business losses, but the operating result collapsed less than feared.
At the top of the SDax, Nagarro stood out with a price gain of 7.8 percent. The IT service provider ended the past year with a jump in profits and now wants to buy back its own shares for up to 30 million euros.
After rising to its highest level for around a year, the euro slipped again and most recently cost EUR 1.0983. The European Central Bank had previously set the reference rate at $1.1057. The current yield on the bond market remained at 2.41 percent. The Rex bond index was unchanged at 125.81 points. The trend-setting futures contract Euro-Bund-Future fell by 0.52 percent to 134.25 points. (dpa)