Before the European Central Bank (ECB) decision, European stock markets, particularly Germany's DAX, experienced a slight decline.
The ECB's key interest rate decision is the focal point of the day. Most banking economists anticipated that the key interest rates would remain stable, marking the third consecutive time the ECB would maintain its course. The decision is unlikely to bring any initial change in the monetary policy direction. High expectations for rapid and multiple interest rate cuts in the year had fueled the stock market rally at the end of 2023, but these expectations were somewhat exaggerated, leading to a consolidation in January. The ECB's decision and subsequent press conference are expected to deliver more insights into the pace and extent of potential interest rate cuts in 2024.
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The DAX Index is trading at 16,929, marking a minor decrease of 0.30%. Despite this, the index is close to its mid-December record high of around 17,100 points.
Source: xStation 5
Local Germany Top News
- Brandenburg's farmers are planning to protest this Friday with a tractor parade in Berlin, targeting the headquarters of the traffic light coalition parties. They are calling for the reversal of the proposed cuts in agricultural diesel, which the Bundestag is set to vote on next week.
- Politicians from the Greens, FDP, and CDU are expressing skepticism about the proposal of a ring exchange to aid Ukraine with cruise missiles.
Company News
In the DAX the shares of Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche were among the weakest stocks with losses of between 0.8 and 1.5% following the Tesla declines of almost 8% after its quarterly earnings report.
Pilots at Lufthansa's (LHA.DE) subsidiary, Discover Airlines, are set to strike this Friday (January 26th) for 24 hours. This decision, as per a membership circular from the Cockpit union (VC), was made known on Wednesday and later in the evening, the cabin union UFO also called for a warning strike.
Puma (PUM.DE) following a sharp decline price in the previous day, shares experienced further decline on Thursday, reaching their lowest level since 2018 with an additional 2.3% drop. Analysts' are questioning Puma's future operational flexibility due to a high and inflexible cost base, highlighting the uncertainty and lack of short-term price drivers. On the other hand all negative news could already be reflected in Puma's share price.
Source: xStation 5
