What’s next? – DAX 24.11.17

The German stock index DAX futures were lower in early trading hours on Friday as market participants awaited economic data later in the day amid low trading volumes.

Ahead in the day, Germany’s business expectations, current assessment and lfo business climate for November are due for release at 09:00 GMT.

On Thursday, the benchmark closed at 13,008.55 points in Frankfurt, posting a 0.05 percent loss with pharmaceuticals, healthcare, consumer & cyclical and insurance pushing lower.

The best performers of the session were Thyssenkrupp , which added 3.95 percent or 0.865 points to 22.785. Deutsche Lufthansa rose 1.17 percent to finish at 28.565 and Heidelbergcement was up 0.58 percent or 0.520 points to close at 90.720.

The worst performers of the session were Fresenius, which notched down 1.06 percent or 0.660 points to 61.440. RWE eased 0.93 percent or 0.185 points to 19.650 and Merck declined 0.86 percent or 0.78 points to 89.80.

On the data front, Germany’s gross domestic product for the third quarter came in line with analysts’ expectations of a 0.8 percent increase quarter over quarter, but fell short from at 2.3 percent year over year compared to a forecast of 2.6 percent.

In other news, the German manufacturing PMI came in at 62.5, above an initially estimated 60.4 and a previous 60.6 reading. Activity in the services sector, however, notched down to 54.9 against a predicted 55.0 reading.

Attention in Europe was directed to the release of the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting minutes. The document showed policymakers worried about speculation by investors of a potential new extension of their bond-buying program next year.

“The open-ended nature of the asset purchase program might generate expectations of further extensions as the intended end date of the program approached,” the minutes said.

Last month, the ECB opted to extend its quantitative easing program but reduced the monthly volume of purchases to 30 billion euros until September 2018.

Fort Financial Services