Wednesday May 7, 03:17 PM
German shares higher in afternoon trade; Henkel, Deutsche Boerse lead gainers
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were higher in moderate afternoon trade, boosted by a string of relatively strong quarterly earnings reports -- with Henkel (Xetra: 604840 -
news) and Deutsche Boerse (Xetra: 581005 - news) seeing solid gains -- as local indices were able to weather a lower opening on Wall Street.
At 3:48 p.m., the DAX (Xetra: news) was up 68.15 points or 0.97 percent at 7,085.25, having traded between 7,037.01 and 7,085.25.
The MDAX added 130.91 points or 1.38 percent to 9,628.96, while the TecDAX (Xetra: news) gained 13.84 points or 1.66 percent to 847.23. DAX futures were up 16.50 points or 0.23 percent to 7,125.50, while bund futures slipped 0.09 points or 0.08 percent at 113.61.
The euro was trading at $1.5398, compared with $1.5431 at midday.
A local trader said German indices were receiving a boost from several rather positive company earnings reports issued earlier on Wednesday.
'By and large, the numbers have been solid and came in better than expected,' he said, highlighting gains by Henkel and Deutsche Boerse.
'Analysts are simply ignoring any bad news,' said market analyst Mirko Pillep from Helaba.
He pointed to an increase in Commerbank's shares despite the bank reporting first-quarter earnings that dropped from a year ago.
Pillep predicted the DAX will likely remain in the 7,000 to 7,200 point band for the next few weeks, as long as the DJIA is unable to rise above its highest point over the last 200 days.
Leading blue chips higher, Henkel added 1.60 euros or 5.68 percent to 29.75. Its shares jumped on consensus-beating net profit after some investors had expected weaker operating results.
'Given very tough comparisons from last year, first quarter expectations for Henkel were quite low, and indeed the company's performance was modest,' said an analyst at a major European brokerage. 'Overall, the performance was modest... but probably better than many investors feared. This is especially true as we expect the first quarter to be the toughest for Henkel.'
Infineon (Xetra: 623100 - news) shares rose 0.23 euros or 3.56 percent to 6.69, helped by gains in the tech sector after U.S. peer Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO - news) unveiled a consensus-beating third-quarter report, which raised hopes among investors a turnaround in the sector lies ahead.
Deutsche Boerse was 3.31 euros or 3.30 percent stronger at 103.79, after the stock exchange operator posted solid first-quarter numbers last night, which showed good bottom-line growth, while sales came in slightly below expectations.
Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 - news) shares gained 0.38 euros or 1.63 percent to 23.67 after the bank received mixed reviews from traders and analysts on its first-quarter figures, with the slight majority saying the numbers came in a bit better than expected.
BMW (Xetra: 519000 - news) enjoyed a 0.55 euro or 1.48 percent advance to 37.68 after the automaker reported April unit sales rose 12.5 percent to 133,205 from the same month of last year.
At the other end of the DAX, Deutsche Post (Xetra: 555200 - news) lost 0.83 euros or 3.96 percent at 20.11, making it the worst performer. The stock traded ex-dividend after the mail carrier paid a 0.90 euro dividend to shareholders.
Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) was down 1.13 euros or 0.61 percent at 185.56.
Over on the MDAX (Xetra: news) , Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (Xetra: 731400 - news) added 1.40 euros or 8.86 percent to 17.20 after the printing machine specialist reported mixed first-quarter figures that beat expectations on some key items.
At the other end, Hannover Re lost 2.65 euros or 7.44 percent to 32.95, shedding Tuesday's gains made when the reinsurer posted strong first-quarter figures that beat expectations due to strong income from its non-life reinsurance operations.
The insurer's stock was also trading ex-dividend after paying out 2.30 euros per share to shareholders.
MLP (Xetra: 656990 - news) was 0.26 euros or 2.24 percent lower at 11.33 after the MDAX-listed financial services provider reported first-quarter figures that analyst and traders said were largely mixed.
TecDAX-listed EPCOS (Xetra: 512800 - news) led its index higher -- up 0.71 euros or 6.85 percent to 11.08 -- after Dresdner Kleinwort raised its stance to 'buy' from 'add' and reiterated its target price of 14 euros.
At the other end, Software AG. lost 0.53 euros or 1.13 percent to 46.29.
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