18.04.2019 – Daily report. Investors in Frankfurt first take profits at Easter. That is after a nice profit series of six days also no miracle. News remained at first thinly sown. Besides the fact that the Nasdaq 100 set a bullish signal with a record high the evening before. But before tomorrow’s stock market holiday, there will be another large bunch of fresh economic data.
Falling prices in Frankfurt
Despite positive signals from the German economy, many investors sold their shares. So for most German investors there was little to get on Maundy Thursday – unless they trade CFDs with Germany’s best CFD brokers. For the DAX, early trading was down by around 0.4 percent, with the index approaching the 12,100 mark. The leading index thus still remained within reach of the latest annual high of 12,304 points. The purchasing managers’ indices for Germany were all above the forecasts. However, the European counterparts were disappointing. The concrete figures can be found here at: Market Mover
Flood of news before Easter
In view of the busy schedule, most investors remained in a waiting position. In the US reporting season, Philip Morris reports his results for the first quarter at 1 p.m. German time. Shortly after 10 p.m. American Express closes the day.
On the economic side, US retail sales for March are due at 14:30. The same applies to the weekly American initial applications for unemployment benefits and the Philadelphia Fed Index for April.
At 15:45, the Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index for Manufacturing and Services will follow.
At 4:00 p.m., the US Leading Indicators Index for March runs through the Ticker and Inventories February.
At Eurex, the small expiration date for equity index options is also on the agenda.
Waiting and Seeing in Asia
On the Asian stock exchanges, investors also waited this morning for news from the negotiations between China and the USA in the customs dispute. In addition, many brokers held back before the start of the Japanese reporting season. Many took profits after the Nikkei rose to its highest level since early December in Tokyo on Wednesday. On Thursday, however, the Nikkei fell by 0.8 percent to 22,080 points. The CSI 300 spent almost all of its trading in the red, with the index of China’s major stocks ending the day down 0.4 percent at 4,072 points.
High-tech boom in New York
On Wall Street, technology stocks set the pace on Wednesday. The Nasdaq 100 finally gained 0.3 percent to 7,681 points. In early trading, the index had reached the highest level in its history with around 7,715 points. The bull market was helped by significant price gains by Qualcomm and Intel: Apple will acquire a patent license and also buy chips from Qualcomm.
The standard stocks were already feeling the Easter holiday calm: the Dow Jones Industrial sent hardly any signs of life with minus 0.01 percent to around 26,450 points. The S&P 500 even fell by 0.2 percent to 2,900 jobs. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book had no influence on events. Meanwhile, the reporting season in the USA had brought a damper with it for investors: The computer giant IBM had to accept a surprisingly clear dent in business at the beginning of the year. Sales in the first quarter fell significantly short of the forecasts.
We are curious to see how the reporting season will continue – Bernstein Bank wishes you and your family a happy Easter!
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