The Vienna Stock Exchange showed clear losses on Monday afternoon in a negative European environment. Market observers pointed to the negative signals from Asia, where the export-oriented Nikkei-225 had plummeted by a hefty 12.40 percent in reaction to recent US economic concerns.
According to experts, the Federal Reserve may lower its interest rates more significantly than previously thought due to the latest employment data from Friday. This gave a strong boost to the Japanese currency, which could in turn reduce potential revenues for export-oriented companies.
In Austria, the ATX was down 2.31 percent at 3,445.83 units shortly after noon.
On Monday, the focus is on the ISM service index in the USA. According to Helaba, this has recently disappointed with a drop into the contraction territory. “However, the signals for the July figure from the regional Fed surveys are positive, and an increase above the 50 threshold is expected.”
Corporate-wise, eyes were on Rosenbauer. The troubled fire equipment manufacturer has made significant progress in obtaining a new majority owner with a consortium involving Stefan Pierer and Mark Mateschitz. The board of Rosenbauer decided today to increase the company’s capital by 50 percent. The shares recently fell by 4.8 percent.
Among other individual stocks, AT&S shares experienced further losses, continuing the downward trend from the previous week. The shares fell by 7.5 percent. Over the week, the securities have dropped by 17.6 percent.
The banking sector also showed weakness. The largest losses in the ATX were recorded by BAWAG, down 3.9 percent. Raiffeisen and Erste Group both fell by 2.8 percent.
Regarding Erste Group’s shares, experts from Deutsche Bank also commented. They raised the target price from 52 to 54 euros; the recommendation remained “Buy”.
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