Weakness on Wall Street drags Dax down

Weakness on Wall Street drags Dax down

The weakness on New York's Wall Street has weakened the German leading index Dax despite the prospect of an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank. The signals about a possible interest rate cut in June have caused the Dax to fall below the 18,000 point mark. The German stock market barometer ended the trading day with a discount of 0.79 percent to 17,954.48 points. The MDax of medium-sized stocks also recorded a decline of 0.88 percent to 26,703.18 points, while stock markets across Europe weakened. The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index of the euro zone, lost 0.68 percent to 4966.68 points.

The US stock exchanges were able to recover from their initial losses at the close of trading in Europe, with the Nasdaq even climbing into positive territory. The European Central Bank initially left key interest rates unchanged and then indicated a possible interest rate cut due to lower consumer prices. ECB President Christine Lagarde emphasized that inflation was continuing to decline and that there were signs of easing in underlying inflation rates.

The Deutsche Telekom share was particularly weak in the Dax due to a dividend discount, while the energy supplier RWE was at the top of the Dax with an increase of 2.7 percent. The defense stock Rheinmetall was able to recover by 1.9 percent after losses on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the specialty packaging manufacturer's quarterly figures, Gerresheimer's share price in the MDax fell by 4.2 percent due to the expected reduction in inventories among pharmaceutical customers in the second quarter.

The euro came under pressure and was trading at $1.0707 in the evening, while the ECB set the reference rate at $1.0729. On the bond market, the current yield rose from 2.4 percent to 2.51 percent, while the Rex bond index fell by 0.53 percent to 124.51 points. The Bund future lost 0.24 percent to 131.40 points.