Thursday December 30th 2021
Investors close books
Dax ended the rapid year on the stock market just in positive territory
A turbulent year on the stock market ends on a leisurely pace: the German benchmark index ends the shortened trading session, despite the ongoing corona pandemic, up 0.2 percent. This is the ninth time in ten years that he has made an annual profit. Analysts are also predicting new price records for the index for 2022.
The German stock market closed slightly higher on the last trading day of 2021. Trading was extremely quiet at the end of a turbulent year. The Dax stock market barometer went 0.2 percent higher at 15,885 points from trading. Over the year, the index closed up 15.8 percent. The winner from the Dax family is the TecDAX with a plus of 22 percent. Bunds with a term of ten years continue to deliver negative returns.
This was the ninth time in ten years that he had an annual profit. “At the end of the year, investors can confidently pop the champagne corks,” said analyst Timo Emden from Emden Research. Analysts polled by Reuters predict new price records for the index in 2022. This does not, however, require excessive deflections. From its previous record of 16,290 points, the Dax is only around 400 points or just under three percent away.
As in 2020, Covid-19 was one of the topics that set the pace in the past twelve months. The continued ultra-loose monetary policy of the central banks ensured, among other things, that setbacks were repeatedly bought by investors. But tina – there is no alternative – continued to direct money from bonds to the stock market. In view of the recent surge in inflation, real assets, such as stocks, are more popular with investors.
Record sales possible in the pharmaceutical industry
After a lead of around a year, the largest reform of the German index landscape since the introduction of the DAX in 1988 took place in September. Since then, the Dax benchmark index has included 40 instead of 30 companies; the ten largest companies in terms of market capitalization rose from the MDAX to the “Champions League”.
The index is particularly interesting for foreign institutional investors, as it covers around 80 percent of the total market capitalization in Germany. In the coming year, around 80 percent of DAX companies want to pay a higher dividend to their shareholders, with dividend aristocrats including BASF, Covestro and Allianz.
Health is the most important good at all times. Especially in times of a pandemic, the pharmaceutical sector is booming. A name that is mentioned in Germany almost in the same breath as the Covid vaccination is Biontech from Mainz. Confidence in the vaccine is high and record sales are possible with a view to further possible vaccinations. The company has been listed on Wall Street since autumn 2020, and share turnover in Germany is also high. Sartorius, Siemens Healthineers and Merck KGaA should also be mentioned from the Dax.
In addition to its pharmaceuticals and liquid crystals business, Merck has strengthened its specialty materials business with the acquisition of Versum in order to benefit from the growth in the semiconductor industry.
Meanwhile, it was another lost year for Bayer shareholders. With the unchanged legal uncertainties with regard to the glyphosate lawsuits, the share almost stood still. Biontech grew by 195 percent in 2021, Sartorius by 73, Siemens Healthineers by almost 57 and Merck by almost 62 percent.
Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Munich have done their homework
For a long time it looked like the big German automobile manufacturers would only see Tesla’s taillights when it comes to e-mobility. But the past twelve months have shown that the homework has been done in Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and Munich and that the manufacturers are now bringing the e-models to customers – also with the support of the state bonus. Battery factories are being built, charging stations are being installed, and even if some questions have not yet been finally clarified: Politicians want a CO2-neutral Germany.
Daimler brought in an increase of 39 percent over the year, BMW 22 and VW 16. Otherwise, there was a coming and going on the stock market. There were a number of takeovers such as Deutsche Wohnen, Zooplus, Hella or Schaltbau, the shares are likely to disappear from the price list in the near future. This year, the spin-off Vitesco or Daimler Truck, the classic IPO Vantage Towers, the online second-hand goods dealer Auto 1 and the software developer Suse went public this year.