market report
Status: 08/24/2022 10:13 p.m
The closer the important central bank meeting in the USA approaches, the more sluggish the markets become. Optimists and pessimists balanced each other out midweek. As of Thursday, circling in the queue will come to an end.
It almost seems as if trading activities in the run-up to the international meeting of central banks in the USA have come to a standstill. In the middle of the week, the stock markets took a deep breath after three days of losses. The Dow Jones posted a meager plus of 0.18 percent.
On the Nasdaq technology exchange, investors ventured a little further. The Nasdaq 100 recovered 0.28 percent.
The economic data of the day, which gave a little dynamic picture, did not weigh on the prices. Durable goods orders were flat in July compared to the previous month, while economists had actually expected a slight pick-up.
The number of so-called pending home sales, i.e. transactions that have not yet been completed, fell in July by 1.0 percent from the previous month, a slightly smaller decline than expected. “For the current real estate cycle, we could be at or near bottom in signings,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. The pending house sales are considered an indicator for the housing market, as they reflect the situation at an early stage in the transaction process.
DAX catches up
The German stock exchange was also able to record slight gains after the mix of energy crisis, inflation, fears about the economy and interest rates had hit the markets for three days. The DAX closed 0.2 percent higher at 13,220 points.
Central banks in a dilemma
As has been the case for days, investors are primarily waiting for what statements will be made tomorrow at the central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The speech by Fed boss Jerome Powell on Friday’s interest rate course is being eagerly awaited. “The fact is that Jackson Hole has occasionally been used in the past as a platform to send clear messages to the markets that have not always been the expected ones,” said broker Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.
The statements by Powell and other top central bankers could shape the development of the financial markets for the next few weeks, said market strategist Christian Henke from the trading house IG. “Above all, investors are looking for answers on the progress made in fighting inflation.” Market participants are divided on whether the Fed will hike interest rates by 50 or 75 basis points at its late September meeting.
Recent weak economic data has highlighted the dilemma facing central bankers. On the one hand, they have to fight inflation, which is not least driven by energy prices, although they have no influence whatsoever on this key driver. On the other hand, they have to protect the economy, which is under great stress, as much as possible. In addition, the tighter interest rate also harbors major risks for other countries, especially the heavily indebted emerging markets.
Port workers get 9.4 percent more wages
Fears of inflation could in this country fueled by the surprisingly high wage agreement for port workers. Because the wages in full container companies are to increase retrospectively from July 1 by 9.4 percent, as the service union ver.di announced after the tenth round of negotiations. So far, second-round effects in the inflation discussion have hardly been on the agenda of the markets and especially the ECB. That could now change and thus put the European central bank under further pressure to act.
Euro rears up
Another attempt to heave the euro back towards parity with the US dollar could be observed on the foreign exchange market in the afternoon. This was successful for a short time, but late in the evening the common currency was trading again at around $ 0.9960.
Oil prices near $100
Oil prices remain high even after yesterday’s surge. A barrel of North Sea Brent cost just over 100 dollars in the evening. At the beginning of the week, statements by the Saudi energy minister, in which he had indicated a possible reduction in production by the oil alliance OPEC+, provided a boost.
US crude oil inventories fell more-than-expected last week. Inventories fell by 3.3 million to 421.7 million barrels (159 liters). Analysts had expected a drop of 2.5 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the situation in the gas market worsened due to new delays in the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA. The European gas future jumped by more than 15 percent to the record value of 300 euros per megawatt hour. “Prices have risen, helped by the announcement last night of the delayed restart of the US Freeport LNG plant,” analysts at Engie EneryScan said.
A savior for Bed Bath & Beyond?
In New York, stocks in retailer Bed Bath & Beyond stood out. The steep ups and downs of the title continued with a double-digit share price increase. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is negotiating loans. Some time ago, the shares were targeted by short sellers who are betting on falling prices. The fluctuations are considerable.
Peloton relies on cooperation with Amazon
Peloton’s stock also posted double-digit gains. The sporting goods specialist also wants to sell its fitness equipment at the world’s largest online retailer Amazon and announced a corresponding cooperation for the US market. Up until now, Peloton had relied on exclusive distribution through its own websites and showrooms. But after a boom at the beginning of the corona pandemic, the demand for training bikes and treadmills has decreased significantly again.
Twitter under pressure to explain
Twitter stock recovered somewhat from its recent setback. Former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko has accused the company of serious deficiencies in data protection. Twitter has given the regulators misleading information about user accounts and measures against hacker attacks, CNN and the Washington Post quoted Zatkos yesterday from an 84-page report. The allegations are against the background the legal dispute over the failed takeover of Twitter by Tesla boss Elon Musk. He withdrew his $44 billion offer in July. Musk justified this with alleged violations by Twitter of the deal’s agreements. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 17.
Covestro criticizes gas surcharge
The CTO of the plastics group Covestro, Klaus Schäfer, has the gas levy decided by the federal government sharply criticized. “The levy is highly immature and completely unfair. Costs and benefits are not in balance,” Schäfer told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. Depending on the further development of energy prices, Schäfer expects high additional costs for the DAX company. Some gas importers have also already declared that they can waive the surcharge. According to Schäfer, an alternative would be for this surcharge to be levied only for futures transactions. “Another possibility would be a tax that would be distributed across the country instead of a levy,” says the manager.
Uniper and E.ON plan hydrogen partnership
The German energy companies E.ON and Uniper want to import climate-neutrally produced hydrogen from Canada to Germany on a large scale from 2025. The Canadian project developer Everwind is to produce it. The hydrogen is bound to come to Germany in the chemical form of ammonia. E.ON and Uniper gave the agreements on the sidelines the German-Canadian government talks known.
Accordingly, the companies are each aiming for a purchase agreement for up to 500,000 tons of green ammonia per year. Ammonia is a chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen and is easier to transport than pure hydrogen.
Trend reversal at CTS Eventim
The return of concert operations after the compulsory Corona break makes the tills ring at the ticket broker CTS Eventim. In the second quarter, sales of 595 million euros were 44 percent above the level of the pre-Corona year 2019. At 105 million euros, the operating result was almost twice as high as before the outbreak of the pandemic. After the Corona requirements were lifted, a large number of concerts and events took place in all core markets, which were exceptionally well attended, the MDAX company said.
In view of the uncertain course of the pandemic, CTS Eventim boss Klaus-Peter Schulenberg does not want to venture a forecast for 2022. However, as long as further corona developments and the Ukraine war and its consequences do not result in any significant burdens, the result should be significantly higher than last year.
IBU-tec is growing strongly
The supplier of battery materials IBU-tec grew strongly in the first half of the year. After 20 million euros in the same period of the previous year, 29.5 million euros were now turned over from January to June, the company from Weimar announced. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased from EUR 1.6 million to EUR 3.7 million. Like other companies, IBU-tec is affected by increased raw material and energy prices. However, the increase in costs was almost entirely passed on to customers. The board of directors confirmed the forecast for the full year with sales of 55 to 57 million euros. The prerequisite is that the political and economic framework conditions do not deteriorate significantly.
Moderna is also submitting an application for the Omicron vaccine
After Pfizer and BioNTech, the pharmaceutical company Moderna is also asking the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval for a booster vaccine against the omicron variant. The agent is intended to offer protection in particular against the subtypes BA.4 and BA.5.
Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is testing a Corona vaccine from BioNTech/Pfizer that has been adapted to the current Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. A spokesman for the authority said that this was done as part of a so-called rolling review process. Results are already evaluated if no complete study data is available and approval of the vaccine has not yet been applied for.