After the recent gains, the Dax started the new week weakly. The leading German index closed 0.11 percent lower at 15,863.95 points on Monday. The MDax of medium-sized stocks ended up 0.05 percent lower at 27,728.77 points.
The 16,000 point mark could fall if some large US companies from the technology sector such as Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft set the tone with their quarterly reports this week, wrote analyst Christian Henke from the trading house IG. The capital market strategist Jürgen Molnar from Robomarkets described the development of the Dax as surprisingly stable.
There were no stimuli from the Ifo index on Monday. The mood in the German economy brightened further in April. In detail, however, the results were mixed. The approximately 9,000 companies surveyed rated their prospects better, but the current economic situation worse. Market expert Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners analyzed the Ifo index as showing that the recent sharp rise in share prices remains a very risky bet on the future.
At the beginning of the week, stocks from companies from the MDax and the SDax small-cap index were particularly in focus on the market, with Darmstadt-based Software AG leading the way. The technology investment company Silver Lake wants to take it over and is offering shareholders 30 euros per share. Silver Lake, the company would be worth 2.2 billion euros. Software AG shares soared 49 percent to €29.76.
As the clear tail light in the MDax, Thyssenkrupp's shares fell by 13 percent. The background is the surprising and premature departure of company boss Martina Merz. Investors now fear further delays in the important restructuring of the group, said Frederik Altmann from Alpha securities trading.
The steel manufacturer Salzgitter had started the current year better than expected. However, investors did not like the fact that the group only confirmed the goals for the current year. The share certificates lost 3.5 percent.
In the Dax, Siemens Healthineers gained 3.6 percent at the top of the index. High price gains at Philips left their mark. The Dutch medical technology group did unexpectedly well in day-to-day business in the first quarter.
Analyst studies also moved the courses. For example, SGL Carbon went up by a good one percent. The shares of the carbon specialist benefited from a positive comment from Berenberg Bank. The silicon carbide-related business is driving profitability, wrote expert Thomas Junghanns.
According to a skeptical study by Hauck Aufhäuser Investment Banking, the shares in Elmos Semiconductor, which have been very weak for days, fell by a further 7.7 percent and ended up in last place in the SDax. Analyst Jonah Emerson expects a solid first quarter with excellent sales growth and strong margins. However, profitability should then have plateaued for the remainder of the year.
The Eurozone stock market barometer EuroStoxx 50 fell by 0.15 percent to 4401.80 points. In Paris and London, the leading indices each closed slightly lower. The New York leading index Dow Jones Industrial lost 0.15 percent at the end of trading in Europe.
The exchange rate of the euro rose. The European Central Bank set the reference rate at 1.1002 (Friday: 1.0978) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9089 (0.9109) euros.
On the bond market, the current yield increased from 2.48 percent on Friday to 2.50 percent. The Rex pension index fell by 0.10 percent to 125.23 points. The Bund future fell minimally to 133.62 points.
