With its measures to support the economy, the Chinese central bank caused more optimism on Europe's stock markets at the end of the week.

After its recent losses on Friday, the Dax temporarily gained 1.9 percent to 14,147 points and thus made it back over the 14,000 point mark.

The German second-tier index M-Dax increased by 2 percent to 29,609 points.

The selection index for the euro area Euro Stoxx 50 advanced by 1.6 percent.

China's surprisingly sharp cut in a key interest rate for long-term loans in the real estate sector provided a boost.

The authorities are trying to boost the housing market and counteract a significant economic slowdown as a result of the strict zero-Covid policy with numerous restrictions.

It's a step in the right direction, said Carlos Casanova, an economist at Union Bancaire Privee in Hong Kong.

The central bank's announcement was rewarded on the Shanghai stock exchange with a plus of 1.6 percent.

In the United States, Wall Street closed in the red on Thursday.

The American standard value index Dow Jones had lost 0.8 percent to 31,253 points.

Technology stocks in the Nasdasq Composite fell 0.3 percent to 11,389 points.

However, some analysts doubted the usefulness of this measure.

It should only be the drop in the ocean of a recession threat in the Middle Kingdom, judged Jürgen Molnar from RoboMarkets.

"As long as the massive restrictions continue, China's economy will have trouble picking up the pace it is used to and thus pulling the global economy along." Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, expects further interest rate cuts in the coming months.

"I also expect more policy action in the areas of fiscal, property and platform economics."

Central banks in a bind

In addition to developments in China, investors are currently also wondering whether the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) will be able to curb inflation without stalling the economy.

"Growth will continue to weaken, but inflation will remain high for the time being - the central banks are in a quandary," says Robert Greil, Chief Strategist at Merck Finck.

While the Fed has already completed the turnaround in interest rates, Commerzbank analyst Ralph Solveen believes that the pressure is now also increasing on the ECB to raise interest rates soon.

The further rise in German producer prices gave rise to “fear that the core rate, at least in the case of consumer prices, has not yet reached its peak.” In April, producer prices for commercial products climbed by an average of 33.5 percent over the year.

They are seen as precursors to general inflation.

At 7.4 percent, the inflation rate is currently higher than it has been since 1981.

Speculations about an imminent turnaround in interest rates in the euro area drove the common currency up by more than one percent on Thursday.

At the end of the week, the euro was little changed at $ 1.0586.

Luxury stocks under pressure according to Richmont figures

Among the individual stocks, luxury stocks in particular made a name for themselves after Richemont's earnings fell short of expectations.

Hermes, LVMH, Moncler and Kering temporarily fell between 3.4 and 1.7 percent in price.

In the MDax, Hugo Boss was a good two percent weaker.

The shares of the Swiss luxury goods group Richemont slipped by almost 14 percent.

In the Dax, numerous titles that had fallen sharply since the beginning of the year went on a recovery course.

The shares of the automotive supplier Continental recorded the largest price gains with a plus of around 5 percent, followed by the papers of the recipe box mail-order company HelloFresh, which increased in price by more than 4 percent.

At times there was even a premium of 7 percent for these papers, but since the beginning of January they have been down by almost 50 percent.

The Dax itself lost 12.6 percent in value over the same period.

At the end of the Dax on Friday, the papers of the insurers Hannover Re and Munich Re and the titles of Deutsche Bank showed little change.