On Wall Street, investors took heart at the end of the week and bought shares. The leading index Dow Jones gained 1.27 percent and closed at 33,761 points.
The Nasdaq, a technology exchange that is particularly sensitive to interest rates, rose more sharply and, like the Nasdaq 100 selection index, advanced a good 2.0 percent. The market-wide S&P 500 index also increased significantly by 1.73 percent to 4280 points.
Has inflation peaked?
Investors were hoping that the US Federal Reserve would slow the pace of the rate-hike cycle should inflation across the board ease off. Warnings are currently taking a back seat, allowing the stock market bulls to determine action.
Most recently, consumer and producer prices in July did not rise quite as rapidly as they had recently. That hope has not only helped Wall Street gains today, but Europe has also surged for the same reason. The DAX also increased.
"There is a lot of uncertainty as to how oil prices and other consumer prices will continue, but the peak of inflation is clearly behind us," said John Vail of Nikko AM. The crucial question now is how far and how fast it will fall. Central banks are likely to adopt a more hawkish stance than is generally assumed.
The Fed had recently fought rampant inflation with unusually large interest rate hikes. She wants to follow up next month. The key interest rate is currently in the range of 2.25 to 2.50 percent.
Consumer confidence rises more than expected
From the economic side, there was fundamental tailwind for the stock market in the afternoon. US consumer sentiment brightened more than expected in August.
The consumer climate surveyed by the University of Michigan rose by 3.6 points to 55.1 points compared to the previous month, as the university announced after a first round of surveys. Economists had only expected an increase to 52.5 points. In June, consumer sentiment had fallen to a record low of 50.0 points. The main reason for the recent weak mood among consumers was high inflation.
Apple on the rise
DAX increases in the wake of Wall Street
The DAX ultimately closed at 13,795 points, just under – and 0.74 percent up. On a weekly basis, this results in growth of around 1.6 percent. The manageable range today was between 13,705 and 13,813 points. The lower volatility suggests that investors' nervousness is waning.
experts warn
So it's no wonder that experts and central bankers are still unable and unwilling to give the all-clear in the fight against inflation. "The jubilation on the global stock exchanges may have been a little premature," wrote analyst Christian Henke of IG Markets. The Fed could continue its tighter monetary policy for a while longer.
Euro back below 1.03 dollars
The common currency is currently struggling with the $1.03 mark. Already on Wednesday, the surprisingly strong decline in the still very high inflation in the United States had weighed on the dollar and, in turn, pushed the euro above 1.03 dollars.
In the morning, the euro received some support from surprisingly robust economic data from the euro zone. The industrial companies there expanded their production in June much more than expected. In addition, the number for May was revised significantly upwards.
Oil prices lower
Yesterday, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) increased forecast for oil demand this year pushed prices up by more than four and three percent respectively. However, uncertainty was caused by the fact that OPEC is assuming lower oil demand due to the economic uncertainties and has reduced its forecast for the third time since April. There is currently a lot of uncertainty in the market regarding demand, said Westpac's Justin Smirk. And as long as this continues, the market will remain volatile.
Commerzbank expert Carsten Fritsch is skeptical about further price developments: "The recent recovery in oil prices after the massive setback in the previous week is likely to falter." After all, the oil market should be more than sufficiently supplied for the time being. "For this reason, but also because of the feared recession in many industrialized countries, we have revised our oil price forecast downwards," writes Fritsch. Commerzbank only expects a Brent oil price of 90 dollars towards the end of the year.
Fall in sales at Volkswagen halted
Bayer does not have to pay compensation to BASF
In the course of the Monsanto takeover, Bayer had to divest parts of the Crop Science division due to conditions imposed by the antitrust authorities. BASF took over the seed business and paid around 7.4 billion euros. However, Bayer had not properly informed about the cost structure of the areas, BASF had then criticized. According to an insider, the value in dispute was around 1.7 billion euros plus interest.
EnBW earns less
The green electricity business, on the other hand, increased by 43 percent to 547 million euros. This was due in particular to better wind conditions at the offshore and onshore wind farms, higher prices and the commissioning of new solar parks.
Leave a comment