The DAX didn't really move at the end of the week after being pulled up the previous day in the wake of a rising Wall Street. The leading index maintained its level just above the 26,000 point mark - but it wasn't enough today. The closing level was 26,046 points, a moderate increase of 0.17 percent.
On a weekly basis, this leaves a minus of around 1.9 percent. High oil prices and the associated latent fears of interest rates and inflation continue to weigh on the market.
Oil prices, whose rise had set the DAX back in the past few days, had previously proven to be a support for the price. They have stabilized at a high level, stated portfolio manager Thomas Altmann from QC Partners. Investors continued to hope that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East would be limited in time.
Prices are currently falling slightly to just over $95 per barrel for the North Sea Brent variety - after recently peaking at over $97. Overall, the oil market remains volatile and difficult to grasp. Everything depends on the situation in the Middle East, where the important Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.
Fundamental tailwind came from new economic data. The order situation in German industry improved surprisingly significantly at the beginning of the second half of the year. New business in July grew by 2.5 percent compared to the previous month due to many large domestic orders, as the Federal Statistical Office announced. Economists surveyed had only expected an increase of 0.3 percent.
“The large orders have been making the difference in the order situation for a long time. The fiscal package sends its regards. What remains clear, however, is that without large orders there is little going on,” commented Alexander Krüger from Bethmann.
Even good news from the VW Group did not change the cautious attitude of investors.
Surprisingly, the supervisory board of the Wolfsburg car manufacturer agreed on a savings concept despite heated discussions in advance. Although many questions remain unanswered, investors appreciated the surprising ability of everyone involved to compromise. VW preferred shares led the DAX with a daily gain of 6.6 percent. Other car stocks that are well represented in the DAX also rose.
At a time of great upheaval in the car markets, the concept is a positive step to improve VW's competitiveness, said analysts at JP Morgan.
Semiconductor stocks also attracted buying interest: Infineon rose by around 2.6 percent in the DAX and Suss Microtec, Siltronic and Elmos were in demand in the MDAX.
The shares followed the positive development of the tech industry in Asia. Warburg analyst Malte Schaumann also sees Suss as a good buying opportunity given the favorable valuation and thick order books.
On Wall Street, the tendency to sell increased around midday local time. The major indices are all trending in the red. The leading index Dow Jones is losing around 0.6 percent, tech stocks are holding up slightly better.
The eagerly awaited new labor market data was robust and better than expected. Specifically, 162,000 new jobs outside of agriculture were created in August. Experts had only expected an increase of 55,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.14 percent.
This means that the US economy remains solid, but there is still no relief in inflation in sight. At around 3.7 percent, this is well above the Federal Reserve's (Fed) target zone of 2.00 percent. The labor market report is likely to fuel expectations of a key interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve in mid-September, wrote Ralf Runde from Landesbank Helaba in an initial assessment.
“The US economy is running smoothly, which suggests that the current economic situation can certainly tolerate higher interest rates,” said Thomas Gitzel from VP Bank.
