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Bull in the position of a stock trader on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange:

The mood on the stock market remains positive

Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa

After initially continuing its record run, the

Dax

gave up its profits during trading on Tuesday. The leading German index closed 1.1 percent weaker at 18,283 points. The

MDax

for medium-sized companies fell by 0.9 percent to 26,811 points. The

EuroStoxx 50

, the leading index for the Euroregion, lost 0.7 percent.

Stock marketers justified the losses by saying that the financial markets are now expecting fewer interest rate cuts this year than the US Federal Reserve, after some economic data in recent days had signaled a strong economy. Fed Chairman

Jerome Powell

said Friday the central bank was in no rush to cut interest rates as policymakers expected more evidence that inflation had been contained.

Investors also focused on inflation data from Germany. As expected, inflation in this country continued to slow down. In March, consumer prices were 2.2 percent higher than in the same month last year. This is the lowest value since April 2021 when it was 2.0 percent. In February the annual inflation rate was 2.5 percent and in January it was 2.9 percent. The data for the entire euro zone will follow on Wednesday.

When it comes to individual stocks, the cloud provider

Ionos

is in focus because of a major order from the federal administration to build a particularly secure computer cloud solution. An upper limit of 410 million euros was mentioned in the tender for the framework contract. The “private enterprise cloud”, which was certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), among others, is to be operated in the data centers of the Federal Information Technology Center (ITZBund). The share recently rose by around 14 percent compared to the Xetra close on Thursday, thus reaching a new record. The shares of the parent company

United Internet

rose by 3 percent.

Armaments stocks continue to reach highs

Among the shares in the Dax, those of the defense company

Rheinmetall

climbed to another record high. Most recently they increased by 2.5 percent. In the MDax, Hensoldt were also among the favorites with a plus of 2.0 percent, having previously set a record. The stocks of stock market newcomer

Renk

also gained 3.9 percent. Statements from Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) provided impetus. This sees scope in the federal budget of up to 9 billion euros from 2028 to increase the defense budget.

According to a positive analyst study by the private bank Berenberg, the MDax rose

by up to 8.1 percent for

Krones

. Berenberg analyst Benjamin Thielmann upgraded the bottling equipment manufacturer’s stock to “Buy”. He referred to the high order backlog and also expects that the free cash flow will recover this year and that Krones will perform well in a difficult economic environment.

US investors take profits

In the USA too, doubts about an imminent change in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve Bank are causing problems for the stock markets following the latest economic data. The

Dow Jones index

of standard stocks was 1.3 percent weaker at 39,072 points on Tuesday. The broader

S&P 500

lost 0.9 percent to 5,194 points. The

Nasdaq

technology exchange index

lost 1.2 percent to 16,207 positions.

The unexpected increase in the purchasing managers' index and in new orders for US industry raised doubts as to whether the US Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates again in order not to cause too much damage to the economy with the tightening of monetary policy. Despite the high interest rate policy in the USA, the demand for personnel also increased. The key figure for job vacancies, which is important for the Fed, rose to 8.756 million at the end of February, as the US Department of Labor announced on Tuesday in its monthly survey (Jolts). Experts polled by Reuters had only expected 8.750 million.

When it comes to individual stocks,

Tesla

shares flew out of the depots. The US electric car pioneer's shares were 4.6 percent lower at $167.23. The losses had been even greater in early trading. Tesla delivered far fewer cars in the first quarter than experts expected.

Xiaomi shares gain significantly after the presentation of the first electric car

The market launch of its SU7 electric car is driving up the shares of Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi. The price rose by up to 20 percent on Tuesday, even though the industry newcomer's first electric car will be a subsidy deal for the company. The company, which is actually known for its smartphones, increased its market value by around $7.6 billion to $55 billion on the first day of trading after the car was presented last week, surpassing traditional car manufacturers such as General Motors and Ford.

Bitcoin back below $70,000

Bitcoin has slipped back below the $70,000 mark. The day before, the cryptocurrency was trading above the round mark, but then lost significantly. The cryptocurrency was last quoted at $66,240 on the Bitstamp trading platform. This means that the cyber currency is once again a little away from its record high of $73,794, which was reached in March.

Oil prices continue to rise

Oil prices extended their recent gains slightly on Tuesday. A barrel (159 liters) of North Sea

Brent

recently cost 87.84 US dollars. That was 42 cents more than the day before. The price of a barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (

WTI

) rose 43 cents to $84.14.

Oil prices are currently near their five-month highs. The shortage of Mexican supply and the increased geopolitical risks in the Middle East are currently giving prices a boost. After the suspected Israeli air strike on the Iranian embassy building in Syria, there is a threat of a military response from Iran.

With news agencies