As in the previous trading week, it was the trade disputes that increasingly drove investors. Hopes of a multi-billion euro financial package from the German government could fuel the risk appetite of market players again and again. As expected, the ECB meeting also provided impetus. As expected, the US labour market data closed the week with monetary policy signals.
DAX 40
Source: TradingView
Hope for financial package in Germany to tip the scales - ISM data in the USA mixed
Investors continue to hope that the German government will adopt an investment program worth billions. It is possible that the current Bundestag could implement this program before a new government is formed. However, investors should bear in mind that this is anything but set in stone.
The ISM index for the manufacturing industry in the USA signaled a negative trend at the start of the week with 50.3 points, after 50.5 points had been expected in advance.
At 53.5 points, the ISM index for the service sector was better than expected (52.6 points).
In the middle of the week, it was the ADP employment data that usually gave a first foretaste of the labor market data published today. At just 77,000 new jobs, this data was only almost half as strong as expected (140,000).
European Central Bank turns key interest rate as expected - Lagarde is more cautious than recently
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) turned the infamous interest rate screws down by a quarter of a point on Thursday afternoon and corrected the deposit rate, which is decisive for the financial market, to a level of 2.50 percent. This is the sixth time the ECB has cut interest rates since the interest rate turnaround in the summer.
Lagarde said that a "high level of uncertainty, both in Germany and abroad" would weigh on investment and competitiveness. The ECB wants to make decisions based on data and from meeting to meeting.
US jobs data weak - unemployment rate rises by 0.1 percentage points to 4.1 percent
Today's jobs report from the United States showed an increase in non-farm payrolls of 151,000 units. Economists had previously expected a gain of 160,000 after a revised 125,000 (previously: 143,000 units) in January. The separately calculated unemployment rate fell from 4.1 percent to 4.0 percent.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index
Source: TradingView
