Frankfurt’s DAX 40 fell 0.7% to 24,990 on Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy decision. Persistently rising oil prices, fueled by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, continued to intensify inflation concerns. At the same time, a mixed batch of US corporate earnings weighed on risk appetite, even as Alphabet reported quarterly results that beat expectations.
Markets now turn their focus to the ECB’s policy announcement, with interest rates widely expected to be left unchanged. Investors will scrutinize President Christine Lagarde’s press conference for clues on the future path of monetary policy, particularly any indication of a potential rate hike in September.
At the stock level, SAP inched lower ahead of its Q2 earnings release. Deutsche Börse slipped 2% after its Investment Management Solutions division delivered results that came in slightly below estimates, while Sartorius shed 3% despite posting higher revenue for the first half of the year. In contrast, FlatexDEGIRO rose 0.5% after upgrading its full-year profit guidance on the back of a strong second quarter.
