Wednesday May 7, 12:49 PM
German shares higher midday boosted by a string of strong Q1 figures
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were higher in moderate volume midday trade boosted by a string of relatively strong quarterly earnings reports.
Local traders said, however, an anticipated lower opening on Wall Street was keeping gains in check.
At 12:55 p.m., the DAX (Xetra: news) was up 59.75 points, or 0.85 percent, to 7,076.85, having traded between 7,037.01 and 7,084.26.
The MDAX added 120.51 points, or 1.27 percent, to 9,618.56, while the TecDAX (Xetra: news) gained 10.09 points, or 1.21 percent, to 843.48. DAX futures were up 6.00 points, or 0.47 percent, to 7,115.00, while bund futures slipped 0.13 points, or 0.11 percent, at 113.57.
The euro was trading at $1.5431, compared with $1.5494 in morning trade in London.
A local trader said German indices were receiving a boost from a number of rather positive company earnings reports issued earlier today.
'By and large the numbers have been solid and came in better than expected,' he said pointing in particular to gains by Henkel (Xetra: 604840 - news) and Deutsche Boerse (Xetra: 581005 - news) on the back of their numbers.
Looking ahead, trader Heino Ruland at FrankfurtFinanz said that macroeconomic figures coming from the US later on Wednesday could influence trade later.
Among these are first-quarter non farm productivity numbers, March pending home sales and first-quarter pending home sales.
Leading blue chips higher, Henkel added 1.70 euros, or 6.04 percent, at 29.85 as shares jumped on a 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 quarter for Henkel,' the analyst added.
Infineon (Xetra: 623100 - news) shares advanced 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 that a turnaround in the sector lies ahead.
Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 - news) shares gained 0.50 euros, or 2.15 percent, at 23.79, after the German bank received mixed reviews from traders and analysts on the back of first-quarter figures with the slight majority saying the numbers came in a bit better than expected.
Deutsche Boerse was 1.98 euros, or 1.97 percent stronger at 102.39, after the stock exchange operator posted solid first-quarter numbers last night, which showed good bottom line growth, while sales came in slightly lower than expectations.
BMW (Xetra: 519000 - news) enjoyed a 0.41 euro, or 1.10 percent, advance to 37.54, after the automaker reported April unit sales rose to 133,205, up 12.5 percent from the same month last year.
At the other end of the DAX, Deutsche Post (Xetra: 555200 - news) lost 0.90 euros, or 4.30 percent, at 20.04 as the worst performer, as the stock traded ex-dividend after the mail carrier paid a 0.90 euro dividend to shareholders.
Metro (Xetra: 725750 - news) was down 0.41 euros, or 0.81 percent, at 50.25.
Over on the MDAX (Xetra: news) , Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (Xetra: 731400 - news) added 1.08 euros, or 6.84 percent, at 16.88, after the printing machine specialist reported mixed first-quarter figures that were better than expectations on some key items.
At the other end, Hannover Re lost 3.03 euros, or 8.48 percent, at 32.48, shedding gains on Tuesday after 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 Epocs led its index higher -- up 0.45 euros, or 4.34 percent, to 10.82 -- after Dresdner Kleinwort has raised its stance to 'buy' from 'add' and reiterated its target price of 14 euros.
At the other end, BB Medtech (MED.SW - news) lost 1.19 euros or 3.75 percent to 30.51, the worst performing of six decliners.
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