DAX Continues Unbroken Record Streak

At the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, investors are currently in high spirits as the DAX, the flagship of the German stock market, continues to deliver an impressive performance. On Thursday, the index continued its record hunt and reached a new all-time high in the afternoon with a further increase of 0.5 percent at 17,696 points. For a brief moment, the DAX even broke through the 17,711-point mark. Investors largely remained unimpressed by the current inflation data from Germany and the United States, as these met expectations and therefore did not provide any negative surprises. These developments support the forecast for a strong stock market month of February, during which the DAX has already managed a gain of around 4.5 percent. The MDAX, which represents medium-sized companies, could not increase to the same extent and recorded a level of 25,872 points after moderate disposals. Thus, the MDAX remains far behind its record high, which it reached in September 2021 with about 36,429 points. Similarly, there was little movement in the EuroStoxx 50, which includes the largest companies in the eurozone. Investors also focused on the freshly published quarterly reports of various companies. Beiersdorf was unable to convince with the growth of its consumer division, leading to a share price decline of 3.2 percent. Covestro, on the other hand, caused a share price increase of 1 percent with a free cash flow that exceeded expectations. The engine manufacturer MTU also managed to convince investors with its figures and forecasts, leading to a similar share price increase. In the field of energy technology, Siemens Energy showed strength and managed a 2.7 percent increase after receiving a credit line worth four billion euros. At Aixtron, however, the expectation of significantly slower growth in the current year and bad news from AMS Osram led to a substantial share price plunge of 18 percent. But there were also positive announcements: SMA Solar released an ambitious sales target for 2024, which caused its shares to rise by 15 percent, and Nordex pleased investors with its revenue forecast for the current year, leading to a 4 percent increase in its shares. Kion also scored with a strong order intake, resulting in a 4.6 percent rise in share price. The positive development continued with Schott Pharma, whose lucrative products led to a profit increase and a 7.6 percent rise in share price. Meanwhile, the euro edged up and was valued at 1.0833 US dollars, while the European Central Bank's reference rate the previous day was at 1.0808 dollars. However, the situation was different in the bond market: Prices fell, the bond index Rex lost 0.29 percent to 124.46 points, and the yield to maturity rose from 2.50 to 2.54 percent. The Bund future also fell by 0.28 percent to 131.93 points.