VIENNA (dpa-AFX) – The Vienna stock exchange closed clearly in the red on Tuesday. The leading Austrian index ATX fell 1.10 percent to 2317.36 points. The broader ATX Prime fell 0.99 percent to 1180.28 units.
After the price rally from the previous day, caution returned to the Austrian stock market. At the start of the week, the leading Austrian index was up by more than three percent in a strong European stock market environment.
On Tuesday, the ATX dropped almost two percent at the top. In late trading, however, he was still able to contain his losses after the price drops on Wall Street in early trading were limited and the technology exchange Nasdaq was even able to clearly increase.
The ATX bank shares, which were strong on the previous day, were particularly weak in the individual stocks in Vienna. Bawag’s papers fell 3.92 percent as the largest loser in the index. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) stocks were down 1.41 percent. Erste Group’s shares, in turn, lost 1.15 percent in line with the market.
The insurers were also under pressure. Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) stocks fell 2.43 percent while competitor Uniqa’s shares lost 2.10 percent.
The Semperit shares, on the other hand, continued to soar. They ended the trading day with a plus of 5.30 percent as the strongest value in the Prime Market. After a forecast increase, the titles of the rubber and rubber processor shot up by more than 21 percent on Friday and had risen by another 5.4 percent on Monday.
The Lenzing shares, on the other hand, lost a clear 1.93 percent to EUR 43.30. A new analyst assessment was available for the Upper Austrian fiber manufacturer. Erste Group has significantly lowered its target price from EUR 71.60 to EUR 46.40. At the same time, Erste Group analyst Vladimira Urbankova confirmed her “hold” recommendation. While she continues to view the company’s long-term perspective positively, the short-term outlook is “bleak” and associated with many uncertainties.
Andritz was slightly weaker with a minus of 0.24 percent. At the annual general meeting of the Styrian plant manufacturer, a dividend of EUR 0.50 per share for the 2019 financial year was resolved. At the beginning of March, EUR 0.70 per share had been planned.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is in its summer forecast on economic growth in the Euro zone become a little more pessimistic. For the currency area, she now anticipates a slump in economic output of 8.7 percent in 2020 and growth of 6.1 percent in 2021. So far, the commission had assumed a minus of 7.7 percent for 2020 and a somewhat stronger plus of 6.3 percent for 2021./dkm/sto/APA/fba
