FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were lower in midday deals as traders said nervousness over the US economy was prompting many investors to adopt a cautious stance and remain out of the market, while disappointing full-year numbers from RWE did nothing to inspire confidence.
An anticipated largely flat opening to Wall Street today also gave little reason for investors to enter the market.
At 12.06 pm, the DAX was down 58.69 points or 0.85 pct at 6,846.16, having so far traded in a 6,797.54-6,889.49 range.
The MDAX retracted 12.38 points or 0.13 pct to 9,208.72, while the TecDAX added 0.96 points or 0.12 pct to 811.20.
DAX futures were down 12.50 points or 0.18 pct to 6,868.50, while bund futures retracted 0.10 points or 0.09 pct to 115.98.
The euro was trading at 1.4833 usd, compared with 1.4840 usd in morning deals in London.
Market Analyst Matthias Joerss from Sal Oppenheim said the major factors pressuring the market downwards at the moment were coming from the macroeconomic side.
US economic data released yesterday had helped dampen the mood among investors and today's news that EU December industrial orders had declined faster than anticipated was adding additional weight, he said.
'This is confirming the view that the economy is a longer term problem,' he said.
Euro zone industrial orders were down 3.6 pct in December from November, and rose 2.1 pct year-on-year, EU statistics agency Eurostat said.
Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had projected a decline of 1.4 pct in December, and had forecast year-on-year orders to grow by about 7.8 pct.
Leading blue chips lower RWE, declined 3.97 eur or 4.60 pct to 81.12 after the utility giant reported full-year results, which came in below expectations, with analysts and traders pointing to disappointing headline figures and a cautious 2008 outlook.
Peer E.ON, down 3.08 eur or 2.37 pct at 126.88, also fell due to RWE's conservative outlook.
Continental fell 1.66 eur or 2.41 pct to 67.25 as it saw the gains it made yesterday on strong full-year figures slightly eroded.
Bucking today's negative trend, Deutsche Boerse led a group of 11 gainers, up 2.33 eur or 2.07 pct to 115.12, as its shares were boosted by a couple of positive broker notes released this morning in response to its full-year numbers delivered on Tuesday.
In one of the notes, Merrill Lynch analysts Martin Price and Philip Middelton said, due to the strong full-year results, the brokerage would be raising earnings per share estimates by 5 pct for 2008 and 2009.
The brokerage highlighted new cost guidance and strong trade figures this far into 2008. The analysts also praised the exchange's commitment to profit distribution to its shareholders.
Deutsche Postbank, rose 0.70 eur or 1.10 pct to 64.25, as it continued to gain on ongoing M&A speculation and after Merrill Lynch added the stock to its 'most preferred list'.
Munich Re was 0.41 eur or 0.35 pct up at 116.64, ahead of full-year results for the world's second-largest reinsurer, which will be released Monday and are expected to be strong.
ThyssenKrupp, up 0.07 eur or 0.19 pct at 36.08, continued to see support from news yesterday that industry giant ArcelorMittal has raised key prices and after a media report said the company had found a local buyer for its small Ravensburg-based auto parts factory.
On the MDAX, IKB Deutsche Industriebank led the fallers, down 0.20 eur or 3.81 pct at 5.05.
At the other end, Hugo Boss gained 1.16 eur or 3.23 pct at 37.06, to be the index's top performer, after UBS raised its stance to 'buy' from 'hold' and lowered the target price for the fashion group to 43.50 eur from 49 eur.
TecDAX-listed Qiagen added 0.27 eur or 1.91 pct at 14.44.
Adva AG, meanwhile, slipped 0.06 eur or 2.78 pct to 2.10 as the worst performer on the performer among tech stocks.
Freenet share eased 0.33 eur or 2.55 pct to 12.59, after a report in Boerzenzeitung said Vodafone's German fixed-line unit Arcor and Telecom Italia's Hansenet and Alice units are not interested in acquiring Freenet's DSL business.
Traders pointed to Freenet's reiteration two days ago that it may sell its DSL unit and had tempted investors with a potential share buy buyback should the sale go through. Tyler.Sitte@thomson.com ts/am COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
An anticipated largely flat opening to Wall Street today also gave little reason for investors to enter the market.
At 12.06 pm, the DAX was down 58.69 points or 0.85 pct at 6,846.16, having so far traded in a 6,797.54-6,889.49 range.
The MDAX retracted 12.38 points or 0.13 pct to 9,208.72, while the TecDAX added 0.96 points or 0.12 pct to 811.20.
DAX futures were down 12.50 points or 0.18 pct to 6,868.50, while bund futures retracted 0.10 points or 0.09 pct to 115.98.
The euro was trading at 1.4833 usd, compared with 1.4840 usd in morning deals in London.
Market Analyst Matthias Joerss from Sal Oppenheim said the major factors pressuring the market downwards at the moment were coming from the macroeconomic side.
US economic data released yesterday had helped dampen the mood among investors and today's news that EU December industrial orders had declined faster than anticipated was adding additional weight, he said.
'This is confirming the view that the economy is a longer term problem,' he said.
Euro zone industrial orders were down 3.6 pct in December from November, and rose 2.1 pct year-on-year, EU statistics agency Eurostat said.
Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had projected a decline of 1.4 pct in December, and had forecast year-on-year orders to grow by about 7.8 pct.
Leading blue chips lower RWE, declined 3.97 eur or 4.60 pct to 81.12 after the utility giant reported full-year results, which came in below expectations, with analysts and traders pointing to disappointing headline figures and a cautious 2008 outlook.
Peer E.ON, down 3.08 eur or 2.37 pct at 126.88, also fell due to RWE's conservative outlook.
Continental fell 1.66 eur or 2.41 pct to 67.25 as it saw the gains it made yesterday on strong full-year figures slightly eroded.
Bucking today's negative trend, Deutsche Boerse led a group of 11 gainers, up 2.33 eur or 2.07 pct to 115.12, as its shares were boosted by a couple of positive broker notes released this morning in response to its full-year numbers delivered on Tuesday.
In one of the notes, Merrill Lynch analysts Martin Price and Philip Middelton said, due to the strong full-year results, the brokerage would be raising earnings per share estimates by 5 pct for 2008 and 2009.
The brokerage highlighted new cost guidance and strong trade figures this far into 2008. The analysts also praised the exchange's commitment to profit distribution to its shareholders.
Deutsche Postbank, rose 0.70 eur or 1.10 pct to 64.25, as it continued to gain on ongoing M&A speculation and after Merrill Lynch added the stock to its 'most preferred list'.
Munich Re was 0.41 eur or 0.35 pct up at 116.64, ahead of full-year results for the world's second-largest reinsurer, which will be released Monday and are expected to be strong.
ThyssenKrupp, up 0.07 eur or 0.19 pct at 36.08, continued to see support from news yesterday that industry giant ArcelorMittal has raised key prices and after a media report said the company had found a local buyer for its small Ravensburg-based auto parts factory.
On the MDAX, IKB Deutsche Industriebank led the fallers, down 0.20 eur or 3.81 pct at 5.05.
At the other end, Hugo Boss gained 1.16 eur or 3.23 pct at 37.06, to be the index's top performer, after UBS raised its stance to 'buy' from 'hold' and lowered the target price for the fashion group to 43.50 eur from 49 eur.
TecDAX-listed Qiagen added 0.27 eur or 1.91 pct at 14.44.
Adva AG, meanwhile, slipped 0.06 eur or 2.78 pct to 2.10 as the worst performer on the performer among tech stocks.
Freenet share eased 0.33 eur or 2.55 pct to 12.59, after a report in Boerzenzeitung said Vodafone's German fixed-line unit Arcor and Telecom Italia's Hansenet and Alice units are not interested in acquiring Freenet's DSL business.
Traders pointed to Freenet's reiteration two days ago that it may sell its DSL unit and had tempted investors with a potential share buy buyback should the sale go through. Tyler.Sitte@thomson.com ts/am COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.