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Rheinmetall share at record high: The Dax posts gains on Friday morning
Photo: FABIAN BIMMER / REUTERS
The price recovery in the second half of trading on Wall Street gave the German stock market a boost again on Friday. The Dax shook off the negative surprise of the previous day by US inflation data and rose by 0.9 percent to 16,699 points in early trading. The MDAX of medium-sized stocks rose by 1.3 percent to 26,419 points. The Eurozone benchmark EuroStoxx 50 index rose by 0.8 percent.
Interest rate expectations have not changed after the slightly higher than expected US inflation, analysts at ING Bank noted. After the close of European trading on Thursday, the US benchmark index Dow Jones Industrial had risen again and had completely recovered initial losses – good targets for the German stock market.
Defence stocks in focus – Airbus on the rise
After the military strike against Houthi rebels, investors increasingly focused on arms stocks on Friday. The purchases lifted Rheinmetall shares to a record high of 315 euros in the morning, most recently up almost 2 percent. In the MDAX, Hensoldt took the lead with a premium of almost 4 percent
Despite strained supply chains, aircraft manufacturer Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft last year, more than 200 more than its struggling US competitor Boeing. At the same time, customers ordered more than 2000 new Airbus jets – an industry record. Investors rewarded this, and Airbus shares rose.
The bank Morgan Stanley lowered the thumbs for some chemical stocks in this country. Affected are Brenntag, Lanxess and Wacker Chemie, which lost up to 2.4 percent at the Xetra close in pre-market trading on Tradegate.
Wall Street little moved after early Dow record
The U.S. stock markets closed little changed on Thursday. However, the trading day was nevertheless marked by fluctuations: After the Dow Jones Industrial reached a record high above 37,800 points early on, surprisingly high consumer prices weighed on parts of the market. They put the brakes on hopes of an early interest rate cut.
In the end, the Dow closed 0.04 percent higher at 37,711 points. The market-wide S&P 500 fell by 0.1 percent to 4780.24 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2 percent to 16,821 points. Among the tech stocks, Microsoft stood out the most. For a time, the company was the highest-valued publicly traded company, replacing Apple.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Approves Bitcoin ETF – Price Gains Surrendered
The digital currency Bitcoin has taken a step towards the investment mainstream in the USA. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday opened the way for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This move had been expected. On Tuesday, a fake announcement on the hacked SEC account at Elon Musk's online service X (formerly Twitter) had anticipated permission for a short time. Bitcoin price benefited only temporarily from the approval of Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday, rising above the $2021,49 mark for the first time since December 000. However, it quickly gave up the gains and fell to a daily low of $45,613.
Oil Prices Continue to Rise – Geopolitical Worries Support
Oil prices extended their previous day's gains on Friday. A barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent crude for delivery in March cost $79.20. That was $1.79 more than on Thursday. The price of a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in February rose by $1.73 to $73.75.
Concerns about an escalation of the situation in the Middle East continue to drive oil prices, according to observers. On Friday night, the US and Britain, with the support of allies, "successfully" attacked positions of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The military strike was a "direct response to the unprecedented attacks by the Houthis" on international shipping in the Red Sea, US President Joe Biden announced. He said he would not hesitate to order further measures if necessary.
The biggest threat to the supply of crude oil to the world market is that Iran will be drawn directly into the conflict. This could threaten production flows in a region that produces a third of the world's crude oil. This, in turn, is causing an increase in the risk premium on the oil market, which had recently declined due to slower demand growth, among other things.
With news agencies