Traders at the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt:
Eagerly waiting for the ECB
Photo: DPA
Shortly before what is expected to be the first interest rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB) in more than a decade, German stock trading is likely to be characterized by tense waiting on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the fact that gas is flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline again is a relief.
The leading German index, the Dax, rose by 0.49 percent to 13,347 points.
The day before, the leading index Dax had ended with a moderate loss after strong fluctuations in the course of trading.
The reason for this was uncertainty as to whether the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline would be put back into operation and, if so, how much gas would flow.
The EuroStoxx 50 was expected to be around 0.2 percent higher on Thursday morning.
An increase in the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points by the ECB is considered a foregone conclusion, but an increase of half a percentage point is also quite possible due to the high level of inflation.
In view of this, investors should no longer take the risk shortly before the interest rate decision in the late afternoon.
The stockbrokers should now be relieved when it comes to gas.
After the maintenance of Nord Stream 1, the gas supply through Russia resumed on Thursday morning.
Gas is flowing again, said a spokesman for Nord Stream AG.
"The resumption of gas delivery lets the stock market traders breathe easier," wrote Thomas Altmann from the asset manager QC Partners.
Of course, this does not solve the energy crisis by any means, but at least in the short term a nightmare scenario has been averted.
Chemical stocks in demand, profit-taking at SAP
The resumption of deliveries on Thursday for paper from the chemical industry had a correspondingly positive effect.
The shares of
BASF
,
Covestro
,
Wacker Chemie
and
K+S
increased by up to 3 percent.
The shares of the energy supplier
Uniper
were also in strong form with an increase of 11 percent.
Europe's largest software
manufacturer SAP
recorded a significant drop in earnings in the second quarter due to costs in Ukraine and a weak license business.
For the year as a whole, the management also cut the forecast for the operating result.
Meanwhile, SAP intends to buy back further shares with a volume of up to 500 million euros on the market.
Shares recently fell 2.2 percent.
A trader spoke in an initial reaction of taking profits after the disappointing outlook.
Sartorius and Vantage Towers asked for numbers
The pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier
Sartorius
remains on course for growth.
Thanks in part to acquisitions, sales rose by almost 27 percent year-on-year in the first six months and exceeded analysts' expectations.
Order intake also remained high.
Adjusted net income increased by almost 29 percent.
The company also confirmed the outlook for the year.
The Sartorius shares rose by 0.8 percent.
After a good first quarter, the radio tower company
Vantage Towers
sees itself on the way to its annual targets.
Sales for the three months to the end of June excluding so-called pass-through income rose by almost 7 percent, as expected by the market.
The titles of the Vodafone subsidiary gained 0.4 percent.
Mixed specifications from the USA
On Wednesday, after the recovery rally from the previous day, the US stock exchanges will be more mixed again.
The leading index , the
Dow Jones Industrial
, did not manage to hold its ground after a changeable trend.
It was last down 0.33 percent to 31,721 points, while the broader
S&P 500
gained 0.16 percent to 3942.98 points.
On the Nasdaq, on the other hand, there were clear gains based on good news from the
Netflix
streaming service .
The
Nasdaq 100
index rose 1.01 percent to 12,373 points, hitting its highest level in almost six weeks.
The Dow also managed to do this with a daily high of 31,944 points, but in contrast to the Nasdaq, the standard value index was not able to maintain this level.
losses in Asia
Asian stocks are trending weaker on Thursday ahead of the upcoming central bank meeting in Europe.
The Nikkei Index, which comprises 225 values, was 0.1 percent lower at 27,658 points.
The broader
Topix index
fell 0.1 percent to 1,945 points.
The
Shanghai
stock exchange was down 0.4 percent.
The index of the most important companies in
Shanghai and Shenzhen
lost 0.5 percent.
Bitcoin gives way slightly
The digital currency Bitcoin has come under pressure again after its recent recovery.
The cyber currency was last listed on the Bitstamp trading platform at 22,913 US dollars.
That was 3 percent less than the day before.
The cryptocurrency has been under pressure since the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin hit a record high of $69,000 in November last year.
Oil prices slightly weaker
Oil prices fell on Thursday.
Most recently, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost 106.01 US dollars.
That was 91 cents less than the day before.
The price of a barrel of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety fell a little more significantly by $1.96 to $102.26.
Inventory data from the USA recently put pressure on the crude oil market.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Energy reported a significant weekly increase in gasoline stocks.
The figures speak for slightly weaker gas consumption in the USA, which could be a consequence of the increased gas prices.
In principle, oil prices have been weighed down in recent weeks by the prospect of economic headwinds and tighter monetary policy in many places.
But they are still at a high level.
Since the beginning of the year, they have increased by around 35 percent due to the Ukraine war and sanctions by Western countries against Russia.
With news agencies
