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German stock market:
The Dax continues its slide on Wednesday
Photo: DPA
The Dax significantly increased its previous day's losses on Wednesday.
The leading index recently fell by 1.9 percent to 14,122 points.
The day before it had temporarily climbed over 14,600 points, but then gave way again as a result of the stricter sanctions against Russia.
The 50-day line, indicator of the medium-term trend, could not be overcome, which is now increasing sales.
The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 lost 1.65 percent at lunchtime.
The
MDax
, the index of medium-sized companies, increased its losses to just under 1.9 percent at 30,970 points.
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin lost around 4 percent in value.
Russian state bankruptcy is approaching - further sanctions
In view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the risk of an oil and gas embargo, which the EU has so far avoided, is increasing day by day and with it the inflation and economic risks for Europe, commented the analysts at Commerzbank.
Russia itself is getting closer to bankruptcy: for the first time on Wednesday, payments for two foreign currency bonds were not made in dollars but in rubles.
The US and its allies want to further tighten the thumbscrews on the Russian economy.
A package agreed with the G7 countries and the EU should be presented on Wednesday.
"This much is certain: with every intervention, the risk of a recession in Germany increases," said Konstantin Oldenburger, market analyst at the trading house CMC Markets.
Industrial orders in Germany fell more than expected in February.
Renewable energies against the trend in demand
Bucking the market trend, investors grabbed shares in the renewable energy sector.
Nordex and SMA Solar rose by up to 1.4 percent.
According to government circles, Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to introduce a comprehensive package of measures for the expansion of renewable energies into the cabinet.
Vestas shares fell more than 2 percent in Copenhagen.
The wind power plant manufacturer wants to withdraw from Russia, where he operates two factories.
According to the information, the output of its systems installed in Russia is around one gigawatt.
Interest rate concerns in the US
Speculations of a more aggressive monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve dampened sentiment on Wall Street premarket and prompted a sell-off in Treasuries.
France's stock markets are trembling ahead of Sunday's first round of presidential elections.
Investors are also focusing on inflation, which has already risen sharply.
"The market wants to get further indications of how aggressively the US Federal Reserve intends to proceed in terms of interest rates and the balance sheet in the coming months," said analyst Oldenburger.
The minutes of the most recent Fed meeting are due in the evening.
Investors increasingly sold US bonds after Fed Chair Lael Brainard fueled speculation that monetary policy would be tightened even further.
The yield on the 10-year US bond climbed to 2.659 percent and was at a three-year high.
The dollar index, which measures the world's leading currency in relation to other important currencies, rose by 0.3 percent at its peak.
France before the election
The nervousness in the run-up to the presidential elections in France also weighed on the euro.
The shared currency dipped 0.3 percent to $1.0873.
Fears of an election victory by far-right Marine Le Pen against incumbent Emmanuel Macron weighed on share and bond prices.
The leading Paris index lost two percent, the yield on ten-year government bonds rose to 1.194 percent and was the highest since 2015.
"From the markets' perspective, a second term for Macron would likely be seen as stability and continuity and viewed as the most favorable outcome. In contrast, a Le Pen win would likely be very negatively received by the market given their Eurosceptic stance," the analysts wrote Financial house RBC.
Bitcoin keeps falling
The digital currency Bitcoin was listed on the Bitstamp trading platform at around 44,200 US dollars on Wednesday afternoon, around 4 percent weaker than the previous evening.
In November 2021, Bitcoin hit a record high of $69,000 and then plummeted to $35,000 by the end of January.
Since then, the cyber currency has recovered significantly.
It also plays a role as a refugee currency for Russian oligarchs.
Oil prices are losing at high levels
Oil prices eased on Tuesday.
Most recently, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost 107.15 US dollars.
That was 42 cents less than the day before.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 53 cents to $102.75.
Over the course of the year, oil prices were primarily impacted by the rise in the dollar exchange rate.
A stronger dollar makes crude oil more expensive for investors from other currency areas.
This dampens demand.
Trade continues to be characterized by great uncertainty in view of the Ukraine war.
The EU continues to shy away from further sanctions against natural gas and oil supplies from Russia.
The German government in particular has so far spoken out against a corresponding import ban.
Russia is one of the largest oil producers in the world.
The US and UK have already imposed harsh energy sanctions on the country.
According to Carsten Fritsch, commodity expert at Commerzbank, many buyers are already avoiding Russian crude oil and are turning to other suppliers.
The most important oil-producing country, Saudi Arabia, will benefit most from this.
"So it comes as no surprise that Saudi Arabia raised its official sales prices for oil deliveries across the board in May," writes Fritsch.
Delivery Hero and Hellofresh shares fall
Company news in this country was only isolated.
In the Dax, the shares of the former corona crisis winners
Delivery Hero
and
Hellofresh fell
after the recent price gains.
They brought up the rear with minus 4.8 percent for the food suppliers and minus 5.7 percent for the meal kit suppliers.
Ströer shares
were sold in the MDax
and at times fell to their lowest level since August 2020. Most recently, it fell by 4.5 percent.
The share of the airport
operator Fraport
, on the other hand, as one of the favorites in the MDax, rose by 0.8 percent.
The US investment bank Goldman Sachs upgraded the paper from "neutral" to "buy" and expects significant growth potential for the regulated business.
In the SDax, the wind farm investor
Encavis
attracted attention because it acquired the Danish wind farm Svoldrup, which is already connected to the grid.
Financial details were not given.
The stock, which had climbed 22 percent in the previous five trading days to its highest level since February 2021, is now down 1.6 percent.
With news agencies