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Trader on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange:
Nervousness is growing on the stock exchange
Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst / dpa
After the recent setback in the Dax and the sharp price losses on the US technology exchange Nasdaq, nervousness is also increasing among Dax investors.
The German benchmark index is unlikely to start trading on Tuesday with any changes.
The losses on the Nasdaq also dragged down the broad S&P 500.
Inflation worries weigh on: Stocks of companies with high debt loads or long-term growth bets with no positive results are particularly vulnerable right now.
Waiting for Fed Chairman Powell
For this reason, stockbrokers will put statements by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on inflation and the rise in bond yields on the gold scales.
Powell will certainly not deliver any signals for a tightening of monetary policy, forecast Neil Wilson, chief analyst of the online broker Markets.com.
"The Fed wants the economy to run as hot as possible to get employment back to 2019 levels."
In the afternoon (CET), the Federal Reserve Chairman explains US monetary policy as part of his six-monthly hearing before Congress.
Bitcoin falls below $ 50,000 again
Investors are also keeping an eye on Bitcoin after the cryptocurrency abruptly ended its record hunt on Monday and at times crashed by around 20 percent.
On Friday, according to data provider Coinmarketcap, all Bitcoin in circulation were worth more than a trillion dollars for the first time.
After a record high of $ 58,445 over the weekend, Bitcoin fell significantly on Monday.
After a brief recovery on Monday evening, profit-taking began again, with Bitcoin again falling below the round mark of $ 50,000 on Tuesday morning and was most recently trading at $ 48,500 - around $ 10,000 less than three days ago.
In terms of economic data, the barometer for US consumer sentiment is on the schedule.
Experts expect a slight increase to 90 points.
Fresenius and FMC by the numbers under pressure
In the Dax, the focus on this day is mainly on the shares of the hospital and medical technology company Fresenius and its dialysis subsidiary FMC.
Both have submitted their annual figures and want to reduce costs because of the stresses caused by the corona pandemic.
Before the trading session, the Tradegate trading platform fell for Fresenius by around two percent compared to the Xetra market close the previous evening.
FMC, however, made moderate gains.
The plastics group Covestro and the building materials manufacturer HeidelbergCement also came up with numbers.
Covestro expects earnings to rise in the new year and is also changing its dividend policy.
For his distributions, he now wants to orientate himself on the amount of net profit.
In future, the payout ratio will be between 35 and 55 percent of the group result.
The shares reacted to Tradegate with a price premium of just under one percent.
Thanks to its austerity course, HeidelbergCement closed the year 2020, which was marked by the corona crisis, slightly better than expected.
In addition, the Dax group is confident for 2021. A tailwind is also expected due to the numerous infrastructure programs around the world.
A few companies from the second row also submitted their annual reports: For example Scout24, Befesa, Jost Werke and the investment company Indus, which announced that it had achieved its goals for 2020 despite significant corona pollution according to preliminary figures.
The operating result hit the recently raised forecast range.
The medium-term goals were confirmed.
The online marketplace Scout24, which got through the Corona year 2020 well, wants to continue to benefit from the real estate boom
Rising raw material prices are fueling fears of inflation
"Two factors are driving inflation," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at brokerage firm AvaTrade.
The first is the ultra-loose monetary policy of the central banks and the second the rising prices for raw materials, especially oil.
The Brent variety from the North Sea gained 2.5 percent to $ 64.50 per barrel (159 liters) and was around 70 percent more expensive than at the beginning of November 2020.
Public holiday in Japan
The Shanghai stock exchange was 0.3 percent up.
The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzen gained 0.1 percent.
The MSCI index for Asian stocks outside of Japan fell 1.7 percent.
The stock exchange in Japan is closed due to a public holiday.
Euro hardly changed
In Asian foreign exchange trading, the dollar was almost unchanged at 105.02 yen, down 0.1 percent to 6.4586 yuan.
In relation to the Swiss currency, it was quoted 0.1 percent lower at 0.8954 francs.
At the same time, the euro rose 0.1 percent to 1.2168 dollars and rose 0.1 percent to 1.0897 francs.
The pound sterling gained 0.1 percent to $ 1.4079.
with news agencies