The DAX experienced a decline as the trading week concluded. At the close of Xetra trading, the index registered 24,830 points, marking a decrease of 0.3% compared to the previous day’s closing figure.
Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, noted that selling pressure persists among artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks. He pointed to the announcement by the Chinese company Alibaba, which plans to launch “Moonshot AI” to compete with the payment models provided by US providers. This development heightens concerns over a potential end to the semiconductor industry’s bull run, although Lipkow cautioned that the actual extent of its impact remains to be seen. Morale remains highly nervous.
Regarding global economics, US export prices fell stronger than anticipated, dropping by 0.6%. Conversely, import prices climbed by 0.3%, failing to meet the expected decline of 0.7%. Higher raw material costs are believed to be responsible for this increase and support the arguments made by some US central bankers for a preemptive interest rate hike.
For Europe, consumer prices met expectations in the tickers, yet they remain significantly above the ECB’s 2% inflation target, registering a 2.8% increase. Lipkow predicted that profit-taking behavior in the DAX will continue over the weekend, likely keeping the index below the 25,000 mark.
The European community currency weakened slightly on Friday afternoon. The Euro traded at $1.1442 per US Dollar, while the dollar was valued at 0.8740 Euros.
In sharp contrast, the price of gold saw a significant gain, reaching $4,016 per fine ounce in the afternoon (+1%), which corresponds to 112.85 Euros per gram. Oil prices rose substantially as well. Brent crude from the North Sea was priced at $86.33 per barrel around 5 PM German time on Friday-a 2.5% increase from the prior day’s close.
