The DAX is in the process of settling at a lower level. The leading German index closed today at 25,361 points, 0.84 percent weaker, after barely moving before. The day before there was a sharp drop in price by 1.7 percent to 25,576 points. The DAX thus slipped to the level of the end of July. Since its record high at the end of August, the index has lost over 1,200 points.
After the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent, as expected, investors continue to look anxiously towards the Persian Gulf, where the important Strait of Hormuz remains closed. After the renewed escalation between the warring parties USA and Iran, the price of oil rose above the $100 per barrel mark for the North Sea benchmark Brent. In the evening you even pay around 106 dollars.
An absolute horror scenario, because the increased energy prices are the main reason for the high inflationary pressure - and there is no prospect of an agreement in sight. Most recently, inflation rates in August were 3.3 percent in Europe and 2.9 percent in Germany - significantly higher than the ECB's target of two percent.
No wonder ECB President Christine Lagarde warned about inflation today. Not only do upside risks remain on the upside, Lagarde says inflation is also likely to last longer than expected. According to economists, the aim of the monetary authorities must now be to avoid so-called second-round effects - i.e. price increases that arise as a result of high energy prices, such as wages.
It's not that far yet, but there are plenty of warning signs. The core inflation rate - which excludes highly fluctuating food and energy prices - is expected to remain well above the 2.00 percent mark in the next two years.
"The ECB acted consistently today. Although it cannot prevent the higher energy prices as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, it can ensure that prices do not rise permanently and across the board," said Ulrich Reuter, President of the DSGV savings bank association.
At the same time, the expert points to changed conditions on the capital markets, where yields on long-term bonds are rising. These have been rising for several weeks in response to upward interest rate expectations and ever-increasing government deficits.
There are also losses on Wall Street, where concerns about high energy prices are also a big issue. The Federal Reserve will meet next week and has so far left interest rates unchanged despite inflation being even higher than in Europe. But expectations are now increasing on the capital markets that the US Federal Reserve will also raise interest rates.
However, US inflation data of great relevance is still expected on Friday. An indication of this was provided by the producer prices published today, which rose slightly more than expected at 5.4 percent year-on-year in August.
All major US stock indexes are in the red around midday local time. The leading index Dow Jones lost around 0.6 percent, the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index lost around 0.9 percent.
Comparatively little corporate news shapes trading today. The car manufacturer Porsche AG has earned one billion euros with its departure from the sports car manufacturer Bugatti and the electric car manufacturer Rimac. After approval from the authorities, the sale of the shares has now been completed, the VW Group subsidiary announced. Porsche wants to use 250 million euros of the proceeds to finance its pension obligations, among other things. In addition, Porsche boss Michael Leiters wants to concentrate on the core business.
At Porsche, the focus is now primarily on the Capital Markets Day in just under a month. On October 7th, Leiters wants to present his strategy in detail here.
