The German stock market took a breather on Wednesday. After the important US midterm elections, investors acted cautiously. The leading index Dax fell by 0.16 percent to 13,666.32 points after having reached its highest level since mid-August the day before. The MDax of medium-sized companies lost 0.82 percent on Wednesday to 24,279.49 points.
"The markets value certainty, but this is not yet available when it comes to midterms," commented Konstantin Oldenburger, an analyst at trading house CMC Markets, alluding to the US congressional elections in the middle of President Joe Biden's four-year term. Despite high inflation and poor poll numbers, Biden and his Democrats have fared much better than expected. A clear victory for the Republicans, as predicted in the polls, did not materialize.
Investors' uncertainty was also reflected in the sometimes significant price fluctuations of individual stocks. After a weak start, securities from Siemens Healthineers had turned positive by almost 4.8 percent, of which 3.9 percent remained at the end. The share certificates thus secured first place in the Dax. The medical technology group assumes that business will weaken in the fiscal year that started in October and expects adjusted earnings per share to fall and comparable sales to almost stagnate. But analysts remained calm.
At Adidas, too, investors processed another mood dampener well. Because the partnership with the rapper Kanye West and his brand Yeezy has since ended, the Herzogenaurach-based company had once again cut its sales forecast. However, this did not detract from the recent joy of the stock market traders about the new CEO who is leaving Puma - after initial losses, the Adidas shares expanded their recovery by 3.7 percent.
Many other companies had also presented business figures - including Bilfinger, which brought up the rear in the SDax small-cap index by almost 15 percent. The industrial service provider was burdened by the costs of its savings program.
The Vantage Towers shares approached their record high from March with a price jump of a good ten percent. The telecom group Vodafone is bringing its stake in its radio tower subsidiary into a joint venture with financial investors. High expenses for the expansion of production and significantly increased costs for energy, material and logistics had eaten into the operating profit of the pharmaceutical researcher Evotec. Its shares collapsed by around ten percent at the end of the MDax.
The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index in the euro zone, fell by 0.30 percent to 3728.03 points. Paris's Cac 40 and London's FTSE also ended slightly lower. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial fell 0.8 percent at the close in Europe.
The course of the euro rose: The European Central Bank set the reference rate at 1.0041 (Tuesday: 0.9996) US dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9961 (1.0004) euros.
On the bond market, the current yield fell from 2.27 percent on the previous day to 2.20 percent. The Rex pension index gained 0.23 percent to 126.71 points. The Bund future rose 0.87 percent to 138.24 points.
