market report
The stock markets continued their price rally at the end of the week. Records have tumbled again on both sides of the Atlantic and investors' hunger for records has not yet been satisfied.
It's a week of records: New highs were reached again on the US stock markets on Friday. According to traders, current US labor market data spurred bets on an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in December. The market-wide S&P 500 reached a high on Friday and ended 0.25 percent higher at 6,090 points
The Nasdaq 100 also set a record and ultimately rose by 0.92 percent to 21,622 points. This resulted in a weekly gain of around 3.3 percent for the technology-heavy selection index. Only the Dow Jones Industrial was unable to benefit from the upward trend. It closed 0.28 percent lower at 44,642 points. On a weekly basis, the leading index has lost 0.6 percent.
According to the latest labor market report, market participants see the US Federal Reserve on course to make another interest rate cut in December. According to data, traders on the futures markets had a probability of around 85 percent for a cut of 25 basis points on December 18. In November, 227,000 new non-agricultural jobs were added. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an average of 200,000.
The separately determined unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent after 4.1 percent in the previous month. According to Fed representative Michelle Bowman, inflation is even more important to central bankers than employment. That's why the inflation data expected next week is more important, said portfolio manager Jack McIntyre of Brandywine Global.
According to Fed representative Michelle Bowman, inflation is even more important to central bankers than employment. There are still inflation risks to the economy, which encourages caution about further decisions on interest rate cuts, she said. Given this, next week's expected inflation data will be more significant, said portfolio manager Jack McIntyre of Brandywine Global.
The DAX continued its price rally at the end of the week. On Friday, the leading German index climbed above the 20,400 point mark for the first time in early trading, but was unable to maintain it and ultimately went 0.13 percent higher at 20,384.61 points into the weekend. It was the seventh consecutive day of winning. His weekly gain is almost four percent and his annual profit is almost 22 percent.
However, the record hunt is more a credit to the internationally positioned companies in the DAX than a quality assessment for Germany as a location, commented Dekabank chief economist Ulrich Kater with a view to the weakening German economy.
But the warning voices are slowly becoming louder: “The economically and politically difficult environment in France and Germany obviously does not play a major role on the stock markets,” says Helaba's daily commentary. However, hopes of further interest rate cuts from the ECB and the Fed provided support. According to the experts, it remains to be seen how long this will sustain the upswing on the German stock market.
Robert Greil, chief strategist at private bank Merck Finck, takes a look into the future: For the heavily export-heavy DAX, the further path upwards will be difficult due to the uncertainty surrounding the threat of Trump tariffs. “In addition, there are currently no governments that are really capable of acting in the two largest euro countries. Such a constellation is not a good basis for further strong increases as long as there is no more clarity here,” states the economist.
Meanwhile, another market is opening up for German products: The EU Commission and four South American countries have agreed on a free trade agreement after decades of negotiations. Most recently, the federal government in particular put pressure on the negotiations to finally be finalized and the text for the agreement presented to the EU states for a vote. The federal government spoke of a “unique opportunity”, and business representatives such as the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the foreign trade association BGA were pleased with the agreement.
The free trade agreement between the 27 EU countries and the Mercosur group would create one of the largest trading areas in the world with more than 700 million people. It would cover almost 20 percent of the global economy and more than 31 percent of global goods exports.
And a signal of strength comes from the Eurozone. It doubles growth in the third quarter to 0.4 percent. In the second quarter there was only half as much growth of 0.2 percent. The EU Commission expects the monetary union's gross domestic product to increase by 0.8 percent in the coming year.
Current economic data shows how critical the fundamental situation in Germany remains. In October there was a surprising further downturn in production in the industry. In a month-on-month comparison, production in manufacturing companies fell by 1.0 percent, as the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced. Year-on-year, production fell unexpectedly by 4.5 percent. “A reasonably conciliatory annual result is therefore becoming less likely for the German economy as a whole,” comments Elmar Völker, an economist at LBBW.
The euro moved little in US trading on Friday and roughly maintained its level from European trading. The common currency last cost 1.0554 US dollars. The European Central Bank had set the reference rate at $1.0581. The dollar therefore cost 0.9450 euros.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is gaining momentum again and has managed to pass the $100,000 mark again. The highest-selling cryptocurrency rose in price over the course of the day by 2.9 percent to $101,849. Profit-taking had previously caused the cyber currency to drop to $92,092.
“Obviously there are still numerous investors on the sidelines who are just waiting for a supposedly cheap entry. The first stress test seems to have been passed,” says expert Timo Emden from the analysis house Emden Research. In addition to the hope for a crypto-friendly Washington, investors are betting on further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, which will play into the hands of interest-free and risky assets like Bitcoin.
Michael Grosse is to manage the business of the laboratory and pharmaceutical supplier Sartorius from next summer. The supervisory board appointed the manager as CEO on Friday with effect from July 1, 2025, the DAX group announced after the stock market closed in Göttingen.
TikTok suffers defeat in its fight against US law on the sale of the popular short video app. An appeals court in the capital Washington declared the law legal. TikTok now only has to go to the US Supreme Court. The court pointed out, among other things, that the law corresponds to long-standing regulatory practice and that the US Congress does not want to suppress certain statements.
The aircraft manufacturer Airbus delivered 84 commercial aircraft in November. A total of 643 machines were handed over this year. Airbus aims to deliver 770 passenger jets this year. Deliveries usually pick up towards the end of the year.
Almost six months after taking over Encavis, the US financial investor KKR wants to take the Hamburg wind and solar park operator off the stock exchange. KKR and the Viessmann family, which acts as a co-investor, already hold 87.7 percent of Encavis, as the company announced. As required, the remaining shareholders will receive another takeover offer, which at EUR 17.50 per share is the same as the first offer in the spring.
The US agricultural chemicals and seed company Corteva wants to give Bayer significantly more competition in the Brazilian soy seed market. Brazil is the target market for further group growth, explained Corteva boss Chuck Magro in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency. He sees no reason why “20 or 30 percent of Brazilian soybean acreage cannot be served by the end of the decade.” Bayer in particular currently has a strong presence in the country, which is the world's largest soybean producer.
The mobile phone and TV provider Freenet wants to grow this year thanks to the sale of unnecessary IP addresses. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) are expected to be between 515 and 530 million euros in 2024, the MDAX-listed company said. So far there has been 500 to 515 million euros on the list, compared to the previous year's value of 500.2 million euros.
