30 a..m., up roughly 0.9 % from yesterday’s close. Siemens, Commerzbank, Deutsche Telekom and Continental were the top performers, while Symrise and Mercedes‑Benz slipped to the bottom of the list.
Mercedes‑Benz said the company recorded a sharp drop in earnings for the last fiscal year, and as a result it will cut its dividend.
“This day’s market will continue to confront investors with a host of conflicting cues” said Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. He noted that the U.S. employment data released Wednesday required deep analysis to form a coherent picture of the American economy. “The figures were clearly above expectations, yet in recent weeks revisions have frequently turned the picture on its head. Accordingly, the first‑time claims for unemployment benefits that are due today are likely to be more significant”.
Lipkow also highlighted European conditions. He sees a low‑level economic stabilisation, evident in many quarterly reports-including yesterday’s from Siemens Energy and Commerzbank, and today’s figures already filed by Siemens. Nevertheless, the strong dependence on the Chinese and U.S. economies remains crucial, and EU defence spending is an important additional driver of this overall stability.
The euro was slightly stronger on Thursday morning: one euro bought $1.1880, while one dollar was worth €0.8418.
Oil prices edged higher. At around 9 a.m. German time, a barrel of Brent crude fetched $69.65, a rise of 25 cents or 0.4 % compared with the previous day’s close.
