30 am, a decline of 0.5 percent from the previous day’s close. Rheinmetall, Heidelberg Materials and Vonovia led the list of stocks, while Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Brenntag trailed behind.
The day’s highlight is the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision, scheduled for the evening. “A change in the interest rate is considered unlikely for today’s meeting” said Thomas Altmann of QC Partners. The key factor will be the outlook on monetary policy, with Jerome Powell likely to emphasize the data-dependent nature of the future interest rate path, as he has in the past.
Analysts and investors are currently expecting a rate cut in June or July, according to Altmann. “If Powell highlights the slightly weaker development of the US economy today, a rate cut would be more likely” he added.
The euro was weaker in the morning, with one euro equivalent to 1.0896 US dollars and one dollar to 0.9178 euros. Meanwhile, the oil price fell, with a barrel of the North Sea’s Brent crude costing around 70.36 US dollars by 9 am German time, a decline of 20 cents or 0.3 percent from the previous day’s close.