Daily Comments
Germany: automakers all the rage
03.09.2010 8:13:00 Daria Bulanova, Junior analyst, Global Markets (Finam)
On Thursday, September 2, Germany’s key indexes ended the day in bull market territory. Investors focused their attention on the newly released economic data stateside. On the one hand, US initial jobless claims declined to 472,000 compared to the projected increase to 475,000 from 473,000 seen the previous week. On the other hand, though, factory orders rose 0.1% in July, partly trimming its 1.2% contraction recorded the previous month but still missing the analysts’ forecast of a 0.3% increase.
The Eurozone’s revised GDP data pointed to a large-than-expected expansion of 1.9% vs. the projected 1.7% rise. The European economy expanded 1.0% m-o-m, i.e. in line with expectations.
By 16:00 GMT, Brent crude oil futures dipped 0.554% to USD 75.927/bbl, while copper futures inched up 0.01% to USD 347.800/lb. The euro traded 0.148% higher against the greenback, at 1.282.
By the final bell, Germany’s benchmark DAX Index grew 0.01% to 6,084.66, while the tech-heavy TecDAX Performance Index firmed 0.41% to 762.32.
Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank AG lost 3.22% of its market value after strategists at Merrill Lynch Global Research added the stock to its "least preferred" shares.
At the same time, automakers Daimler and Bayerische Motoren Werke posted solid gains, up 1.35% and 1.6%, respectively. It should be noted that BMW’s namesake luxury brand boosted its US sales 1.6% in August to 19,540 units. This is the third month in a row that BMW has outstripped Lexus, the luxury brand manufactured by Japanese automaker Toyota Motor.
BASF AG edged up 0.06%. According to German chemicals trade group VCI, sales in Germany’s chemical industry surged 5.2% q-o-q in the second quarter, while the annual increase could total as much as 11%.
