Israel's alleged attack on Iran has raised investors' geopolitical concerns ahead of the weekend. The correction continued on the Dax, and the leading index closed on Friday down 0.56 percent to 17,737.36 points. At -1.1 percent, it recorded its third consecutive weekly loss. The MDax of mid-sized stocks lost 0.76 percent to 25,989.86 points.
According to consistent media reports, Israel carried out retaliatory action against Iran in response to last weekend's major attack. The New York Times reported on Israeli military action in Iran early Friday, citing two Israeli and three unnamed Iranian government officials.
Stock Market Collapse Could Continue
From its all-time high of 18,567 points at the beginning of the month, the Dax has now lost four and a half percent. In addition, the so-called 50-day average line was broken as support. Chart technicians consider this as a reference point for the medium-term trend.
The decline in global stock markets could continue for a while, wrote Marco Valli, an economist and equity expert at Italian bank Unicredit. He advises investors to wait for new stock commitments until the current volatile market situation stabilizes.
Among the individual stocks on the German market, Sartorius preferred shares fell by a further 2.6 percent at the end of the week, following their price drop the day before. The pharmaceutical and laboratory products supplier disappointed investors on Thursday with weak quarterly numbers.
Chip values were under pressure
Befesa shares fell 5.7 percent. The US bank Morgan Stanley was skeptical about the industrial recycler's actions.
Chip values were under pressure. In view of the problems in the smartphone and laptop market, TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker, expects the semiconductor industry to develop weaker this year than last year. In this country, Infineon lost 2.4 percent and Aixtron 4.6 percent.
Süss Microtec, on the other hand, gained 6.5 percent. The investment bank Stifel had recommended buying the securities of the semiconductor industry supplier. On Thursday, Süss Microtec rose strongly after the release of preliminary quarterly data, but then closed only moderately higher.
The bond index fell 0.16 percent
The euro was trading at $1.0660 after the market closed. In the afternoon, the European Central Bank set the reference exchange rate at 1.0653 (Thursday: 1.0679) US dollars. Therefore, the dollar costs 0.9387 (0.9364) euros.
In the bond market, the current yield increased from 2.49 percent the day before to 2.51 percent. The Rex bond index fell 0.16 percent to 124.48 points. The Bund future fell 0.03 percent to 131.12 points.