DE40: DAX on an upward wave ahead of US CPI report

• DE40 tries to resume uptrend
• Bullish sentiment on the Old Continent ahead of the publication of CPI from the US
• BMW and Mercedes-Benz publish quarterly car sales data

General market situation:

Wednesday's session on European markets is marked by bullishness. The DE40 is gaining close to 0.6%, thus attempting to resume the upward trend that has been pushing the index continuously upward since October 2023. In Germany, attention turns today to the sales results of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The macro calendar is also very interesting, as investors will learn about new CPI data from the US, the BoC's decision on interest rates, and the FOMC Minutes.

European companies listed during Wednesday's trading session are mostly on the rise at the moment. Source: xStation 5

Germany's benchmark DE40 is trading up 0.6% during today's session. The main control level remains around 18155 points. The main resistance level remains the historical peak in the zone of 18815 points. Source: xStation 5

News:

BMW (BMW.DE) sold about 595,000 cars in the first quarter, up 1.1% from a year ago. Growth was driven by electric vehicles, as well as luxury cars.

• The number of battery-powered vehicles (BEVs) sold rose nearly 28 percent to 82,700
• Sales of cars in the higher price segment rose nearly 22 percent
• In Europe, demand for cars rose 5.5 percent to about 228,000
• In the US, demand rose 1.2 percent to about 91,000 cars
• In the Chinese market, deliveries fell 3.8 percent to about 187,000 cars.

In the same industry, Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) reported worse results. Mercedes Benz sales fell 6 percent in the first quarter, affected by supply bottlenecks in Asia and a change in its luxury model range.

• Deliveries fell to 568,400 cars in the January-March period
• Sales of battery electric vehicles fell even more sharply, by 9%, to 50,500 vehicles
• First-quarter sales in Europe down 2%, Asia down 15%, and North America down 1%

Shares of Barry Cellebaut AG (BARN.CH) are up nearly 8% today. The world's largest cocoa and chocolate supplier, reported sales up 11% to CHF 4.6 billion from a year ago, but one-time expenses caused by a transformation plan resulted in a lower-than-expected half-year profit. Indeed, operating profit fell 40%.

• Earnings before interest and taxes fell 40% to 178 million Swiss francs, worse than analysts' forecasts of 266 million francs
• Barry Callebaut Global Chocolate, however, reported volume growth of +1.0%, outpacing the declining global chocolate confectionery market (-2.0%, according to Nielsen).
• Barry Callebaut Global Cocoa sales volume fell 0.7% due to this year's significant increase in cocoa prices
• Moreover, the volume figures are reassuring, given the rise in commodity prices, Vontobel analysts reported.

Other news about individual companies included in the DAX index. Source: Bloomberg Financial LP

Analyst recommendations:

• Deutsche Bank lowered its recommendation on BASF (BAS.DE) shares to a "hold" rating.
• BNPP Exane downgraded shares of Aixtron (AIXA.DE) to an "underperform" rating. Target price at 21 euros.