The recent interim recovery on the stock market ended today. Rising oil prices and ailing bond markets caused investors to remain cautious. The DAX ended trading 1.35 percent lower at 25,104 points, but was able to maintain the round mark of 25,000 points. The daily high was 25,347 and the low was 25,038 points. The MDAX of medium-sized stocks lost 1.4 percent to 30,112 points.
“The main problem is that there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Angeline Ong, analyst at broker IG, referring to the situation in the Middle East. "Another ongoing concern is how expensive borrowing will be in the future given the trend in bond yields." After the relaxation on Tuesday, the yield on ten-year federal bonds was now at 3.48 percent.
French bonds in particular have been under greater pressure; they recently yielded 4.9 percent, significantly higher than comparable German bonds. The French government is trying to pass an unpopular 2027 budget to reduce the deficit - a difficult task in a deeply divided parliament where political camps are positioning themselves for the upcoming presidential election.
Today, the President of the French Central Bank, Emmanuel Moulin, said in an interview with France Inter Radio that France was definitely in a risk zone with regard to the government deficit and warned that the 2027 budget plan would be important to calm the financial markets.
The relaxation on the oil market is over for now. A tropical storm is heading for the Gulf of Mexico and Saudi Arabia reported another missile attack by the Houthi militia from Yemen. This caused the price of Brent oil to rise again above $100 per barrel - most recently just under $101 was paid for a barrel.
There was surprisingly positive data on German industrial production in August - but without any significant impact on the markets. Compared to July, production increased by 2.0 percent after seasonal and calendar adjustment, primarily due to good development in the construction industry, as the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced. Economists surveyed by Reuters had on average only expected an increase of 0.5 percent. In July, production fell by 1.2 percent.
For the industry, the chances of a revival in the coming months are not bad: the order books are now more full than ever since the statistics began in 2015. On Tuesday, however, the incoming orders for August were disappointing.
After both the broad S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 technology index reached historic highs on the New York stock exchanges the day before, US investors are taking profits today. At midday local time, the Nasdaq indices and the market-wide S&P 500 were down around 0.5 percent. The leading index Dow Jones lost around 0.8 percent.
The recent increase in uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East is also making US investors more cautious. However, the fantasy surrounding the topic of artificial intelligence remains a main driver for the stock markets.
The prospect of European import restrictions on hybrid cars from China only briefly supported the automotive sector overall today. Recently, on the one hand, price losses in the shares of premium manufacturers have weighed on sentiment, as they would benefit less from the proposed protectionist measures. Mass manufacturers such as Renault, VW and Stellantis initially benefited more significantly, as did car suppliers. However, the economically sensitive sector stocks suffered overall from the once again cloudy market environment.
According to sources, the European Union is preparing measures to limit the import of Chinese hybrid vehicles into the economic area. The European Commission may impose restrictions after sales of Chinese-made hybrid vehicles surged in Europe, Bloomberg news agency reported, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the report, these sales now account for a quarter of total sales.
The ailing sports and off-road vehicle manufacturer wants to save a lot of costs in the next few years and focus more on vehicles with particularly high margins. This, among other things, is intended to make Porsche more profitable again. This emerges from a communication on the strategic realignment called "Sportwagenschmiede '35", which was presented today at an investor event.
According to the information, the car manufacturer wants to reduce its development costs for future model series by up to 20 percent. Personnel costs in production are expected to fall by up to 30 percent in the medium term, and sales and distribution costs by 20 percent.
The bottom performer in the DAX was Fresenius Medical Care, which lost over six percent. CEO Helen Giza is leaving the Bad Homburg-based company early at the end of the week after almost four years, as FMC announced today.
An insider said the board lacked a convincing growth strategy from Giza. Although they got the costs under control well, the gloomy outlook disappointed investors. FMC has lost ground to its US rival DaVita.
