After a stable start to trading, the Dax reached its highest level in thirteen months on Tuesday, briefly surpassing the 15,700 mark in the morning. Support also came from German industry. It made a solid start to the new year and received more orders than in December. Analysts, on the other hand, had expected a decline on average.
The German benchmark index gained 0.2 percent to 15,690 points at lunchtime. On Monday, Germany's leading index climbed to its highest level since February last year for the first time at just under 15,680 points. The MDax of medium-sized stocks rose by 0.1 percent to 29,196 points. The leading eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 was also up slightly to 4314 points.
In the further course of trading, however, a certain nervousness could become noticeable. Because the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak later on Tuesday local time before the Banking Committee of the American Senate. Thomas Meissner, Head of Research Financial Market Strategy at LBBW, expects the focus of the discussion to be on the relationship between the real economy and inflation: "How much weakening of economic output will the US Federal Reserve accept in order to tame excessive inflation?"
On Wall Street, the major American stock indices were all slightly up at the end of trading on Monday. The Dow Jones index had gained 0.1 percent, as had the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite.
Zalando at the top of the Dax
In the Dax, Zalando shares topped the index, with a price increase of 5 percent at times, while Henkel found itself at the end of the index after the recent price gains with minus 2.5 percent. Fresenius Medical Care shares lost similarly sharply. After a slump in profits last year, the online fashion retailer Zalando wants to significantly improve its profitability by 2025, which was positively received by the market. The consumer goods and adhesives manufacturer Henkel could not inspire. At first glance, there were no major surprises in the figures for the final quarter of 2022, DZ Bank said. Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne, on the other hand, emphasized that the "consumer" division had once again disappointed.
Brenntag's share price rose by a good 2 percent. According to circles, the chemicals trader wants to buy back at least 5 percent of its shares. At the end of the M-Dax, Hellofresh temporarily lost double-digit percentages. Later, the shares lost around 4 percent in price. A retailer as well as analyst Marcus Diebel of JPMorgan assessed the operating earnings outlook of the cooking box supplier negatively.
Schaeffler lost more than 6 percent in the SDax. The automotive and industrial supplier, which continues to struggle with high costs, disappointed with its operating result and profitability in the fourth quarter. In addition, the outlook was cautious. The index of small German stocks itself gained 0.3 percent.