DE30 struggles to hold above 14,800 pts

• European markets trade mixed

• DE30 pulls back from fresh all-time high

• BASF plans to cut emissions by 25% by 2030

European markets are trading mixed at the start of a new week. News on liquidation of one of US funds have caused concerns over potential spillover effects on the markets and it is contributing to slightly risk-off moods today. Spanish and Austrian equities are top laggards in Europe while Polish and Russian indices gain the most. German, French and Dutch indices trade around 0.2% higher.

Source: xStation5

DE30 reached a fresh all-time high on Friday during the after-hours trading. Index launched a new week lower and slipped back below the 14,800 pts handle. Taking a look at DE30 from a broad perspective, we can see that this zone is marked with the 161.8% exterior retracement of the downward correction from September-November 2020. Failure to make a meaningful break above it may lead to a pullback. In such a scenario, the nearest key support to watch can be found at 14,130 pts. On the other hand, if upbeat moods continue and DE30 breaks above 14,800 pts, bulls should focus on the resistance at 15,400 pts, marked with 127.2% exterior retracement of early-2020 pandemic drop. Traders should keep in mind that as Easter holiday approaches, liquidity may be slightly thinner this week.

Company News

News of Archegos Capital fund liquidation has put pressure on shares of banks and institutions with exposure to the fund. Credit Suisse and Nomura are said to be among those with the largest exposure. Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE) is also rumored to have exposure to the fund but Bloomberg reported citing sources that the German lender has a relatively small risk position related to Archegos. Nevertheless, shares of Deutsche Bank trade lower today.

Commerzbank (CBK.DE) announced that supervisory board will nominate Helmut Gottschalk for the post of chairman. Hans-Joerg Vetter, previous chairman of the bank, resigned due to health reasons.

BASF (BAS.DE) said that it wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 and plans to spend up to €4 billion to achieve it. Basf aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Company will invest up to €1 billion by 2025 to replace fossil fuel electricity with renewable energy and additional €2-3 billion by 2030.

Share price of BASF (BAS.DE) managed to break above the November 2019 peak at €72 at the beginning of March. Nevertheless bulls failed to hold onto these gains for long as the price pulled back recently. It looks like the stock has found a support at 50-session moving average (green line). However, if the downward move is resumed, a key near-term support can be found at the lower limit of the market geometry (€65.75). Source: xStation5