The Dax started the trading day on Wednesday on a friendly note. By 9:30 am, the leading index was calculated at around 22,905 points, a 0.3% increase over the previous day’s close. The top of the price list was occupied by Rheinmetall, SAP and Infineon, while MTU, Heidelberg Materials and Siemens Healthineers trailed at the end.
“It’s the tariffs again that are moving the markets” said Thomas Altmann of QC Partners. From April 1, US President Donald Trump plans to impose a 25% tariff on imported cars. Investors reacted calmly to this announcement. “It seems as though everyone expects the last word has not yet been spoken” Altmann said. “It’s certainly possible that Trump will use the tariffs as a pressure tactic to negotiate a deal just before April 1.”
The Dax currently appears to be impervious, the market expert added. “This was already all-time high number 18 for this year yesterday.” At the same time, the current rally is met with increasingly skeptical views. No one is selling, but everyone is hedging. Since the start of the year, a total of 362,000 additional put options have been opened. The volume of outstanding put options is now 25% higher than the average of the past 12 months.
In China, the decline in house prices continues. January was the 21st consecutive month of price decline for existing homes, with the total price drop now at nearly 17%. “The further price decline underscores how difficult and prolonged it is to stabilize China’s real estate market and get the Chinese economy back on track” Altmann said.
The European common currency was barely changed on Wednesday morning: one euro was worth 1.0451 US dollars and one dollar was worth 0.9568 euros.
Meanwhile, the oil price rose: a barrel of Brent crude cost around 76.31 US dollars by 9 am German time, a 47-cent or 0.6% increase over the previous day’s close.