Investors on the German stock market took some courage again today. By the end of trading, the DAX had gained 1.17 percent to 25,231.20 points. This meant that the German leading index was able to limit its weekly loss to 0.7 percent. The day before, the DAX closed below the 25,000 point mark for the first time since July.
Positive guidance from the USA helped, as did falling oil prices and bond yields. Stocks with AI fantasy once again proved to be a support for the German market. In the wake of another strong US chip stock, the semiconductor company Infineon made it to the top of the DAX with an increase of 8.8 percent. The construction group Hochtief gained 2.8 percent and the energy technology group Siemens Energy gained two percent.
Tech stocks were also in demand in the USA. This brought the Nasdaq 100 technology index to a record high. The market-wide S&P 500 gained around one percent to 7,740 points in the first hours of trading. The leading index Dow Jones Industrial gained 0.6 percent to 51,217 points.
The reason for the positive development after a difficult week was falling oil prices, falling yields and the current labor market data.
The US labor market data was weaker than expected. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, this gave the stock market a boost: In September, only 29,000 new jobs were created outside of agriculture in the USA. Instead of 90,000 as expected.
Some shrugged it off because they saw it as just a slip-up. Others were hopeful that the US Federal Reserve might not have to raise interest rates any further so soon. Because rising interest rates could slow down the economy and the labor market. Because they make loans and investments more expensive. And high interest rates harm the stock market because they make other, often less risky forms of investment such as bonds more attractive.
Inflation in the euro zone rose significantly in September to its highest level in three years due to high energy prices. In a year-on-year comparison, consumer prices rose by 3.8 percent, according to an initial estimate by the Eurostat statistics office. This is the highest inflation rate in three years. On average, economists had expected a slightly smaller increase, namely 3.6 percent. In August inflation was still at 3.2 percent.
The G7 countries have agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their reserves over the next four months. The coordinated release should begin immediately and take place via the IEA. US President Donald Trump had previously urged European partners to release reserves. According to French President Emmanuel Macron, all G7 participants including Trump committed to forgoing export bans.
The decision had an immediate impact on the markets. The US oil price temporarily fell by up to five percent, and the international North Sea Brent variety temporarily fell below $100 per barrel.
After the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer Nike presented disappointing business figures after the stock market closed yesterday, the receipt came today: the shares lost almost six percent in early trading on Wall Street. And were at times the weakest stocks in the US leading index Dow Jones.
In the last quarter, the sporting goods manufacturer's sales fell by four percent year-on-year to $11.2 billion. Profit fell by two percent to $712 million. For the fiscal year, Nike expects a decline in sales in the high single-digit percentage range.
The fact that management announced a restructuring program that would save around $2.5 billion in the coming years apparently did not reconcile investors.
Experts believe Nike's current weakness is largely home-made. Many consider it a mistake that the market leader has relied heavily on sales through its own sales channels in recent years at the expense of retailers. The strategy didn't work. Particularly in the US market, competing brands - such as Adidas - took over shelf space in stores from Nike.
After the Federal Court of Justice overturned a price increase for the Amazon Prime subscription from 2022, the online retailer Amazon is reacting and reducing the subscription prices for affected customers. These are those whose Prime membership began before mid-September 2022 and has remained unchanged since then.
The BGH had upheld a lawsuit brought by the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center. And thus confirms the judgment of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
The consumer advice center had sued because Amazon had increased Prime prices from 7.99 euros to 8.99 euros per month or from 69.00 euros to 89.90 euros per year as of September 15, 2022. The courts complained that Amazon had not informed the affected customers transparently enough about what rights they had as part of the price increase.
