FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Ahead of the US interest rate decision on Wednesday evening, investors on the German stock market have become somewhat more cautious. The German benchmark index fell by 0.1 percent to 24,150 points in the first few minutes of trading, but has risen steadily since its low in November of below 23,000 points. The recovery now totals around 5 percent, with the round mark of 24,000 points being surpassed again on Friday.
At the same time, the MDax index of medium-sized stocks rose slightly by 0.1 percent to 29,744 points. The Eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 was at 5,720 points at the close of trading yesterday.
Portfolio manager Thomas Altmann of QC Partners expects little movement ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. After all, he said, this trading day "only really gets going in the evening." A 0.25 percentage point interest rate cut is considered a foregone conclusion. The monetary policy outlook is therefore more exciting. "And here, it is less about the current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and more about the sum of all Fed members, because Powell will only chair three interest rate meetings next year," he explained.
Capital market strategist Jürgen Molnar from broker Robomarkets expects that the Fed's announcement this evening and the subsequent reaction of the financial markets could set the tone for the rest of the trading year.
The interest rate decision comes at a time when the US Federal Reserve continues to face a difficult environment, as some important economic data has still not been published following the partial shutdown of federal agencies. In addition, US President Donald Trump is putting considerable pressure on the Fed.
