Stock market view: Corona worries and SAP drag Dax down

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SAP crash: The Dax is down 3 percent.

Dax heavyweight SAP loses more than 20 percent of its market value.

Photo: ALEX DOMANSKI / REUTERS

Heavy price losses of the Dax heavyweight SAP after a disappointing outlook from the software company put a considerable strain on the German stock market on Monday.

The Dax slipped by 3 percent by the afternoon and

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The previous week was already very weak with a balance of minus around 2 percent for the Dax.

In the USA, too, the Dow Jones and Nasdaq started trading with significant losses.

The mood is also gloomy because of the sharp rise in corona infections in Europe, the USA and, more recently, again in China.

Axi Trader's market strategist Stephen Innes spoke of the "Covid 19 blues on Monday morning".

And analyst Milan Cutkovic from broker Axi wrote: "More and more countries in Europe are heading for another lockdown. The second corona wave is undoubtedly here - there is now growing fear on the stock exchange that it could also trigger a second massive sell-off in stocks . "

The MDax of the 60 medium-sized stock market stocks came off relatively lightly on Monday with a minus of 0.56 percent to 27,120.61 points.

The leading Eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 fell 1.6 percent.

The focus in this country in the morning is also on the Ifo business climate, which has deteriorated for the first time since May.

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SAP with the biggest price fall in 22 years

The shares of SAP plunged after another lowering of the business targets by 22 percent and temporarily fell below the mark of 100 euros.

This is the biggest price fall in 22 years.

The numbers are a bad surprise, said a stockbroker.

"SAP threatens to fall behind compared to the US competition."

The corona pandemic has Europe's largest software manufacturer more under control than expected.

JPMorgan reacted with a downgrade to "neutral" and particularly complained about the capped targets for the full year.

At times, the papers of the most valuable German group slipped below 100 euros and thus to their lowest level this year.

The shares of Lufthansa also fell significantly, but recently they curbed their minus to just 2 percent.

In a letter from the board of directors to the airline's employees, it said that efforts to keep costs down had to be stepped up again.

Like the entire travel sector, Lufthansa is particularly suffering from the corona pandemic.

In the current environment, with the number of infections again rising sharply and partial lockdowns, the airline's papers have a very difficult time.

Deutsche Bank and Delivery Hero are up against the trend

Delivery Hero were at the top of the Dax with a plus of 1.2 percent.

The portions of the food delivery service are considered pandemic winners, but had lost significantly in value in the past few days.

HelloFresh set a positive sign at the top of the MDax with a plus of 3.8 percent.

The cook box sender also benefits from the restrictions in the corona crisis.

Deutsche Bank papers continued their gradual recovery of the past few weeks on Monday.

With 8.355 euros they made it two days before the interim report for the third quarter, the highest level since the beginning of September.

On Friday, the major British bank Barclays provided positive industry sentiment with surprisingly robust earnings.

The earnings development confirmed the outlook of Goldman Sachs expert Jernej Omahen, who expects the same from the European competition after the positive performance of the US investment banks.

Bayer with billions in focus

The pharmaceutical and agrochemical group Bayer is expanding its cell and gene therapy business with the billion-dollar takeover of the US company Asklepios BioPharmaceutical.

The shares did significantly better than the Dax on Monday with minus 0.2 percent.

In the SDax small-cap index, Jungheinrich fell to last place after its most recent price rally with a drop of more than 5 percent.

The private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser had canceled its purchase recommendation for the forklift manufacturer's shares.

Wall Street: Dow Jones falls to 4-week low

The rising corona infections in the USA and Europe have significantly dampened the mood on Wall Street on Monday.

The

 opened 1.20 percent in the red to 27,996 points.

The US benchmark index was last below 28,000 points in early October.

At the end of last week, there was still the slightest hope that another Corona aid package to support the economy could be passed before the US elections at the beginning of November.

This confidence has recently been visibly waning: The Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin broke off their talks for the time being and accused each other of "having changed the negotiating rules" afterwards.

At the beginning of the new week, investors are likely to be much more risk-averse, summed up experts from the analysis house RBC.

China imposes sanctions on US defense companies

The Chinese government announced sanctions against US companies after the sale of new US weapons to Taiwan.

"We will impose sanctions on US companies involved in arms sales," said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Beijing State Department.

These companies included Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and Boeing Defense.

China has already pointed out several times that arms sales to Taiwan seriously undermine the one-China principle, the spokesman said.

The shares of the US corporations concerned lost between one and two percent in pre-market US trading.

Euro under pressure

The euro started the new week with losses.

On Monday morning, the common currency cost 1.1830 US dollars, a little less than on Friday evening.

The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate on Friday afternoon at $ 1.1856.

At the beginning of the week, the dollar tended stronger against many currencies and thus also put the euro under some pressure.

The American currency remains in demand because the uncertainty in the financial markets is high.

This is due to the rising number of new corona infections in Europe and the protracted negotiations on a US economic stimulus package.

The dollar is seen as a global reserve currency that is sought after in uncertain times.

Oil prices are falling

Oil prices fell at the start of the week.

A barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost $ 41.23 on Monday morning.

That was 84 cents less than on Friday.

The price of a barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 87 cents to $ 38.98.

The announcement by the Libyan oil company that it would significantly increase its production volume had already weighed heavily on the market on Friday, and this will continue at the beginning of the week.

The production of the North African country is expected to increase to over a million barrels per day within four weeks.

The increased supply is also putting pressure on the market prices burdened by the Corona crisis.

On the demand side, the continued sharp rise in the number of corona infections in Europe and the USA is affecting the outlook for the global economy.

Market observers are also of the opinion that the chances of an agreement on a new US stimulus package before the elections are noticeably dwindling.

mg / ak / cr / dpa-afx / Reuters