Despite quiet stock markets: M-Dax climbs record high

Positive company news drove the M-Dax to a record high on Wednesday.

The index of medium-sized stocks recently rose by 0.6 percent to 35,949 points.

The leading index Dax, on the other hand, recorded a minimal increase in the early afternoon at 15,923 points.

The stock market barometer passed the 16,000 point mark for the first time on Friday, but trading has been slow since the beginning of the week.

The Euro Stoxx 50, the leading index in the Eurozone, recently fell by 0.2 percent.

Overall, geopolitical risks after the abrupt change of power in Afghanistan and the spread of the delta variant of the corona virus urged caution.

In Germany, for example, the number of new infections has skyrocketed within one day.

Chemical stocks were in demand across Europe.

In the M-Dax, the shares of Wacker Chemie rose by more than four percent.

The chemical company received a major order for solar silicon from China.

Good news also came from the chemical industry in Germany.

According to the VCI, the industry was able to build on the good start to the year in the second quarter and is heading for a record year.

Investors across Europe switched to waiting mode in the middle of the week.

They did not want to take any new positions until the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve were published that evening.

"We see a field of tension between the hope of a continuation of the economic recovery on the one hand and an increasing number of risks on the other," said Thomas Altmann, portfolio manager at asset manager QC Partners.

On Tuesday, disappointing US retail numbers had upset Wall Street investors.

The US futures also indicated a subdued start to trading on Wednesday.

Consequences of the corona variant unclear

"We actually think that some of the concerns about the Delta option may be exaggerated, especially as countries like Germany and France have caught up on vaccination rates," said Matthias Scheiber, investment expert at Wells Fargo Asset Management. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also said on Tuesday whether the delta variant of the corona virus will actually affect the upswing is still unclear. The pandemic is still casting a shadow on the economy. But many companies have meanwhile adapted their business models to the new situation.

In the Fed minutes, stockbrokers are primarily looking for clues as to when the US Federal Reserve could begin to scale down the massive bond purchases to support the economy in the corona crisis. Powell recently made it clear that he would like to see progress in the US labor market as a prerequisite. "A string of US data presented a weak picture for the economy and could be enough for the pigeons to argue the Fed is in no rush," said Neil Wilson, an analyst with online broker Markets.com.

The New Zealand central bank, which surprisingly did not raise interest rates, put the brakes on on Wednesday.

Stockbrokers had expected that the monetary authorities would be the first in the Asia-Pacific region since the beginning of the pandemic to raise interest rates again.

The lockdown of the country after new corona infections obviously prevented the central bankers in New Zealand from initiating the U-turn now.

"It's pretty clear that the macro environment may not be quite as rosy given the surge in delta variants and the evidence of this naturally came from the US retail sales data, which was a huge failure," said analyst Ross Norman .

US retailers lost a surprising amount of sales in July, adding to fears of an economic slowdown.

Mining stocks and car manufacturers came under pressure in Europe; the corresponding industry indices fell by 2.3 and 0.7 percent, respectively. In addition to the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, price pressure also had a negative impact. Thanks to the significantly increased demand for beer in China and Russia, Carlsberg also went up. The shares of the Danish group climbed up to 3.8 percent after a more optimistic outlook. "We do not rule out a further increase in the forecast for the third quarter when the headwinds from the pandemic subside," state the Jefferies analysts.