The "emergency rescue" of the ailing major Swiss bank Credit Suisse at the beginning of the new trading week was initially unable to calm investors on the German stock market. Investors also held back in view of the ongoing uncertainty before the forthcoming Fed interest rate decision.
On Monday morning, the Dax continued its recent high losses. However, the minus was recently reduced to 0.40 percent at 14,709.09 points. The MDax of medium-sized companies was also able to contain its losses in the morning to minus 0.79 percent at 26,237.15 points. The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index in the euro zone, worked its way up to a moderate plus in the first hour of trading.
With billions in support from Switzerland and the local central bank, the takeover of the major Swiss bank by its domestic competitor UBS was decided at the weekend. In addition, six large central banks increased their rate of supplying the financial system with dollar liquidity. Concerns about Credit Suisse and the collapse of several US regional banks had previously raised fears of a wildfire and a new financial crisis on the financial markets.
Against the background of the turbulence, the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve this Wednesday is now being awaited with particular suspense. A major rate hike by the Fed, which had been feared for a while, is now considered unlikely on the market. Some observers recently even considered a rate cut to be possible.
Shares in banks and insurers remain under pressure at the start of the week. Investors are particularly concerned about their exposure to certain multi-billion dollar Credit Suisse bonds that are likely to default completely. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank said that the largest German financial institution had "almost zero" exposure to these equity-like so-called AT1 bonds, but that could not avoid a price slide - the papers recently fell by seven percent. Commerzbank lost almost five percent, shares in the insurer Allianz went down by 2.3 percent.
At the top of the Dax, on the other hand, Deutsche Börse continued its current good run with a premium of 2.1 percent. Vonovia shares recovered by 1.3 percent, before the weekend the real estate company had annoyed it with a reduced dividend.
Rheinmetall was also one of the favorites, the shares of the armaments group and automotive supplier, which had just been promoted to the Dax, climbed by around one percent. The manufacturer replaces the dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care in the first series of stock exchanges, whose papers, which can now be found in the MDax, fell by 2.4 percent.
In the back rows of the stock exchange, the announcement of a capital increase to finance its restructuring weighed heavily on the papers of the battery company Varta - in the index of smaller company values SDax they were in last place with minus 13.3 percent. With the issue of around four million shares, Varta hopes to generate proceeds of 50 million euros.
