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Trader on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange:

The Dax is rising after the interest rate decision

Photo: Niklas Rüge/dpa

The

Dax

rose on Thursday after the ECB's key interest rate decision.

After barely moving since Monday, it now rose by 0.6 percent to 17,824 points, surpassing its previous record of 17,817 points.

Important Eurozone indices, the

EuroStoxx 50

and the

Cac 40,

rose even more significantly than the Dax on Thursday afternoon.

The

MDax

of medium-sized companies in this country turned positive and recently gained 0.11 percent to 26,188 points.

The ECB has left key interest rates in the euro area unchanged for the fourth time in a row.

"Although most measures of underlying inflation have weakened further, domestic price pressures remain high," the ECB said on Thursday in Frankfurt am Main.

This means that the central key interest rate with which commercial banks can borrow money from the ECB remains stable at 4.5 percent.

What was particularly positive on the stock market was that the ECB expects inflation to decline more quickly than in December.

In addition, the hope of interest rate cuts is being played into the fact that at the same time the economic prospects in the currency area of ​​the 20 countries are continuing to deteriorate, as can be seen from the central bank's forecast.

In the USA, Fed Chairman

Jerome Powell

had confirmed just the day before that there was no hurry to cut interest rates.

First there needs to be more confidence that inflation will continue to decline permanently.

This was enough for the US stock market to end the trading day on Wednesday with moderate gains.

Real estate values ​​asked

On the corporate side, the ECB forecast gave a boost to the real estate industry, which was suffering from high interest rates.

Vonovia,

for example, topped the DAX with a gain of 3.6 percent.

In the MDax ,

LEG

,

TAG Immobilien

and

Aroundtown

jumped between almost 4 and 6.2 percent.

At minus 3.5 percent, Bayer

shares were at the

bottom of the leading index.

They suffered from the fact that the analysis house Bernstein Research canceled its buy recommendation for the securities after the pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals group initially rejected a split.

Continental

's shares

fell by 1.6 percent after the presentation of annual figures and an outlook for 2024.

Stock marketers criticized, among other things, the annual target for the operating result.

Brenntag

's shares were also weak

at minus 2.8 percent.

After a decline in sales and earnings, the chemicals retailer is cautiously looking ahead to 2024 and, in the worst case scenario, assumes a slight decline in operating results.

Hugo Boss shares collapse after disappointing outlook

Merck KGaA

turned around after early gains and has hardly changed recently.

The Darmstadt-based pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals group has largely met expectations, but after the strong run of the share price since the beginning of the year, the lack of evidence of a recovery in the life sciences business is likely to be somewhat disappointing, judged UBS.

In the MDax,

Hugo Boss

fell by around 12 percent and in the SDax

GFT Technologies

fell by just over 7 percent.

At the fashion retailer Boss, analysts pointed to the sales and earnings target falling short of expectations and the forecast for the 2025 sales target being pushed back a little further. At the IT service provider GFT, the forecast for pre-tax earnings in particular was not well received.

US stock exchanges with profits

The US stock markets are likely to open on Thursday with a positive trend.

Fresh US economic data showed a slightly positive influence on the pre-market development of the leading indices.

Productivity in the US economy rose by a significant 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter, while analysts had expected slightly lower growth.

However, the number of initial weekly applications for unemployment assistance has not changed compared to the previous week.

The US foreign trade deficit widened more than expected in January.

Around three quarters of an hour before the official start of trading, the broker IG valued the

Dow Jones Industrial

0.3 percent higher at 38,771 points.

The technology selection index

Nasdaq 100

showed an increase of 0.6 percent to 18,125 points.

Bitcoin is trading slightly below its record high

Bitcoin has continued to stabilize after Tuesday's rollercoaster ride.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value most recently cost around $66,800.

On Tuesday it was worth more than $69,000 for the first time, but then the price collapsed to under $60,000.

Bitcoin is known for such violent price fluctuations.

Little movement in oil prices

Oil prices have barely budged.

Most recently, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea

Brent

cost 82.97 US dollars, about the same as the day before.

The price for a barrel of the American variety West Texas Intermediate (

WTI

) rose slightly to $79.15.

Prices initially rose sharply on Wednesday, but the markups could not be maintained.

Crude oil prices have risen moderately since the beginning of the year.

The Gaza war and the tight supply from the OPEC+ funding network are causing prices to rise.

Added to this is the recently depreciating US dollar, which is boosting demand from other currency areas due to exchange rates.

However, the weakening economies in China and Europe represent a counterweight.

With news agencies