Stock market: Dax only slightly in the red, oil prices are rising, Lufthansa and Deutsche Telekom are up, Wall Street is giving Asia tailwind, Bitcoin below 17,000

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Stock exchange in Frankfurt: The

is still robust, but the inflation risks and the chance of further interest rate hikes by the Fed increased again on Thursday

Photo: Brendan McDermid / REUTERS

After a strong start to the year, the Dax weakened only slightly on Thursday.

He largely made up for his moderate losses at the start of trading by midday.

Most recently, the leading index fell 0.3 percent to 14,447 points.

In the previous three days it had gained a good four percent and benefited from signs of easing inflationary pressure.

On the subject of inflation, however, there was a setback on Thursday afternoon: the private sector in the USA unexpectedly created a large number of jobs in December.

Compared to the previous month, 235,000 jobs were added, as the employment service provider ADP announced on Thursday in Washington.

Analysts had expected an average of only 150,000 new jobs.

The new data make it clear that the situation in the US labor market remains robust.

The strong labor market drives inflation as it leads to rising wages.

This makes it more difficult for the US Federal Reserve to fight the sharp rise in prices - further interest rate hikes are therefore more likely.

This Friday, the US government will present the official employment report for December.

The MDax for medium-sized companies rose by 0.66 percent to 26,622 points on Thursday afternoon.

The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 fell by 0.28 percent.

Lufthansa is benefiting from positive industry sentiment

Among the individual stocks in the Dax,

shares rose by 0.4 percent.

They benefited from the fact that the subsidiary T-Mobile US surprisingly increased the number of its contract customers in the fourth quarter.

In the MDax,

shares gained 1.0 percent.

They were buoyed by positive industry sentiment after low-cost

raised its fiscal year targets.

The German airline itself had raised its profit target as early as mid-December due to high demand for flights, and this again and again.

Synlab

fell to a record low in the SDax.

As Europe's largest laboratory operator announced on Wednesday evening, the Portuguese competition authority (AdC) has initiated proceedings against two subsidiaries.

was

up 1.6 percent.

In addition to strong sales figures for the Next Group from Great Britain at Christmas time, the market also referred to share purchases by CEO

(61) in the amount of just over one million euros.

Analysts' ratings were also moving.

Bank of America downgraded

from "neutral" to "underperform" and capped the price target from EUR 9.00 to EUR 7.10.

The share lost 1.5 percent.

Fed signals boost gains in US

Torn throughout trading, US stock markets ultimately opted for gains on Wednesday.

The zigzag course characterized the course before and after the publication of the most recent minutes of the Fed's meeting.

The leading index Dow Jones Industrial closed 0.40 percent higher at 33,269 points.

The Fed intends to continue fighting inflation with determination.

Monetary policy committee members warned against an "unjustified" easing of financial market conditions, the minutes said, which also signaled further monetary tightening.

Openings in China boosted buying sentiment in Asia

Equity markets in Asia edged higher on Thursday.

The generally positive condition of the US stock markets also provided some tailwind in Asia.

The further opening of China after the strict corona restrictions was also a driving force.

The 225 Nikkei index closed 0.4 percent higher.

The CSI 300 index, which lists the 300 most important Chinese companies on the mainland stock exchanges, rose 1.9 percent and the Hong Kong SAR Hang Seng index gained 1.3 percent.

Bitcoin still below 17,000

The world's best-known digital currency, Bitcoin, continues to stagnate below the 17,000 mark and was last listed on the Bitstamp trading platform at 16,841 US dollars.

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 are rising again

Oil prices recovered somewhat on Thursday from the heavy losses of the past two trading days.

At midday, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost $79.72.

That was $1.88 more than the day before.

The price of a barrel of the American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) variety rose by $1.81 to $74.65.

Market observers spoke of a countermovement.

At the beginning of the new year, oil prices had fallen sharply, with the price of crude oil from the North Sea falling by around six dollars in the past two trading days.

Unexpectedly weak economic data from China and the strong corona wave in the world's second largest economy had fueled concerns about demand on the oil market.

An increase in oil reserves in the USA could not further weigh on oil prices in the morning.

The previous evening it was announced that the interest group American Petroleum Institute (API) had recorded an increase in crude oil inventories by 3.3 million barrels in the past week.

The official camp data is expected in the afternoon.

Should the US government also report a decline in oil reserves, this could provide new impetus for the oil market.

With news agencies