- European indices trade higher
- DE40 climb back above 17,000
- Earnings from Mercedes Benz and E.ON
European stock market indices trade higher today as market moods improved on the back of solid earnings reports from Meta Platforms and Amazon released yesterday in the evening. Major blue chips indices from the Old Continent trade 0.5-1.5% higher today, with German DAX advancing 0.8% at press time. A key market event to watch today is release of US jobs data for January at 1:30 pm GMT. A strong report would hint that Fed does not need to hurry with rate cuts and, therefore, could be negative for equities.
Source: xStation5
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Open account Try demo Download mobile app Download mobile appDAX futures (DE40) trade higher today. Solid earnings from Amazon and Meta Platforms supported sentiment on stock markets and allowed US and European indices to fully erase post-FOMC slump. Taking a look at DE40 chart at H1 interval, we can see that the index is once again trading above the 17,000 pts mark and within a striking distance of all-time highs reached earlier this week. A dovish NFP report at 1:30 pm GMT, that shows wage growth deceleration and weaker-than-expected jobs growth, may provide a fuel for a move towards new record highs. On the other hand, should the report come in strong, a pullback cannot be ruled out. In such a scenario, a key support zone to watch can be found in the 16,965 pts area, marked with previous price reactions and 200-hour moving average (purple line).
Company News
Mercedes Benz Group (MBG.DE) trades higher after reporting preliminary free cash flow data for 2023. Company said that it generated €11.3 billion in free cash flow in the previous year, much more than the €9.5 billion expected. Company said that better-than-expected results were possible thanks to lower working capital levels and favorable cash conversion rates at industrial business.
E.ON (EOAN.DE) reported preliminary 2023 results yesterday's after the close of the German cash session, which were better than expected. German utility company said that it had generated €9.4 billion in adjusted EBITDA in the previous year (exp. €8.84 billion) as well as €3.1 billion in adjusted net income (exp. €2.98 billion). Adjusted EPS came in at €1.18.
Henkel (HEN3.DE) agreed to buy the Vidal Sassoon business in China from US consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (PG.US). Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Vidal Sassoon generated over €200 million in sales in China in 2023.
Analysts' actions
- SAP (SAP.DE) upgraded to 'buy' at Jefferies. Price target set at €190.00
- Zalando (ZAL.DE) upgraded to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley. Price target set at €26.00
Upgrade from Morgan Stanley is fuelling a surge on Zalando shares today (ZAL.DE). Stock is trading around 7% higher on the day and is approaching a short-term resistance zone marked with a recent local peak as well as 50% retracement of the downward impulse launched on December 12, 2023. Source: xStation5
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