Stocks Fall Ahead of Data
May 17, 2011
The weighted 30-share IBIS DAX stock index, which tracks prices in electronic trading, slipped 2.55 to 2526.18. Volume was low as investors awaited reports on German second-quarter gross domestic product and August unemployment. In addition, market participants are also looking to the Bundesbank meeting for possible changes in German interest rates. Most traders agree, however, that an adjustment is unlikely. Among individual shares, auto maker Volkswagen continued to advance on news that the company had pledged late Tuesday not to touch 91 million marks ($61 million) in disputed aid from the European Union through the end of the year, allowing time for the German government and the EU to negotiate. VW shares rose 3.80 marks to 541.90. Shares of German diversified industrial group Preussag gained on a positive report of nine-month order inflows. Its shares added 6.00 marks to 356.00. The weighted 30-share DAX stock index that tracks price trends in the floor-trading session early in the day rose 21.62 to 2532.39 after falling 22.11 points Tuesday. The DAX and the IBIS DAX are composed of the same stocks and weightings though they track trends in two separate marketplaces. Floor trading ended on Tuesday before Wall Street staged a rebound from its early losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eventually reversed a 50 point decline to end with a gain of 32.18. German stocks moved higher late Tuesday in electronic trading, in tandem with shares on Wall Street.
