DE30 breaks above 200-hour moving average

• European stock markets are trading higher

• DE30 breaks above 200-hour moving average

• Volkswagen reports drop in February 2022 sales

European stock markets are trading higher on Friday, in an attempt to recover from yesterday's losses. However, investors should keep in mind that those positive tones in the market could be misleading. On the previous two Fridays a big reversal took place in the afternoon as investors rushed to reduce their risk exposure ahead of the weekend amid war uncertainty. Similar shift in sentiment cannot be ruled out today as well.

Source: xStation5

A pullback on DE30 market yesterday was halted at the short-term support zone in the 13,300 pts area. Recent drop looks like a correction and today's break back above the 200-hour moving average (orange circle) may hint that the index is about to launch an attack on recent local highs in the 14,000 pts area. However, before that happens, DE30 needs to break above the downward trendline and the 13,800 pts resistance zone that can be found slightly above.

Company News

Volkswagen (VOW1.DE) released February sales data today. The German carmaker said that global sales within the Volkswagen Group dropped 17% to 542.9 thousand vehicles. Sales in China dropped 14% YoY, to 193.8 thousand vehicles, while sales in Western Europe were 11% YoY lower at 183.8 thousand vehicles. Global year-to-date sales (January + February) were 16% lower than a year ago.

Lanxess (LXS.DE) reported Q4 2021 results ahead of the session open today. Company reported a 6.5% YoY jump in Q4 adjusted EBITDA to €213 million (€211.5 million) while adjusted EBITDA margin dropped from 13.3% in Q4 2020 to  10.2% now (exp. 10.9%). Sales were 39.% YoY higher at €2.08 billion (exp. €1.91 billion) and net income was reported at €29 million, up from a net loss of €3 million a year ago. Company declared a €1.05 dividend per share.

Shares of Fraport (FRA.DE) are trading higher today after the company announced passenger figures for February. The German airport operator said that it will serve 2.1 million passengers in February 2022, marking a 211% YoY increase. Cargo traffic was 8.8% YoY higher. In spite of a massive improvement in traffic, Fraport said that the Omicron variant dampened demand recovery.

Analysts' actions

• Adidas (ADS.DE) upgraded to "buy" at HSBC. Price target set at €270.00

• Vonovia (VNA.DE) upgraded to "outperform" at RBC. Price target set at €53.00

Fraport (FRA.DE) is trading higher today following the release of passenger figures for February. Stock dropped below the lower limit of the Overbalance structure earlier this week but has managed to climb back above it, signaling that the main trend has been defended. Stock is now testing a resistance zone ranging below the 50% retracement of the post-pandemic recovery move (€53.30 area). Source: xStation5