The prospect of persistently high interest rates in the USA for the time being is increasingly causing a negative mood among Dax investors.

At its peak on Friday, the Dax lost 0.9 percent to 18,515 points, while the EuroStoxx50 fell 0.5 percent. The recently launched attack on the psychologically important 19,000-point mark seems to have receded into the distance for the time being. The wait-and-see phase is not yet over, write the analysts at Helaba in a commentary. The players probably need fresh impetus to start a test of the recent record high of 18,892.92 points.

Many representatives of the US Federal Reserve have recently been rather cautious about a turnaround in US interest rates. The President of the Atlanta Fed, Raphael Bostic, said that the US central bank may have to wait longer before lowering interest rates, as there is still upward pressure on prices despite the somewhat subdued inflation figures in April. The minutes of the latest Fed meeting published on Wednesday evening also failed to dispel doubts about an imminent easing of monetary policy. According to Jürgen Molnar from RoboMarkets, it will probably take until the fall and some more data before there is any clarity here.

EURO AND DOLLAR TREAD WATER

The uncertainty surrounding the future course of the US Federal Reserve also made itself felt on the currency market. The euro and dollar index barely budged, trading at 1.0826 dollars and 104.99 points respectively. On the oil market, the price of Brent North Sea oil also remained in a narrow trading range at 81.08 dollars per barrel.

Among the individual stocks on the DAX, only a few managed to buck the negative trend. These included Zalando, which gained 1.9 percent after falling by almost eight percent over the past five trading days.

Brenntag, which traded ex-dividend, lost 3.4 percent, making it one of the weakest DAX stocks.

On the Madrid stock exchange, the Spanish construction and real estate group Acciona fell sharply after the company downgraded its EBITDA forecast for the current year. The shares fell by up to 9.4 percent. The shares of the green energy division Acciona Energia fell by 8.5 percent at times. The shares of wind turbine manufacturer Nordex, in which Acciona holds a 47.1 percent stake, lost 2.6 percent in the MDax.

US STOCK MARKET SURVEY SURPRISINGLY APPROVES ETHER SPOT ETFs

Cryptocurrencies were also a topic of discussion at the end of the week. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) surprisingly approved the applications of the Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE exchanges for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the cryptocurrency ether. This could pave the way for trading in such products (ether spot ETFs) later this year. "The decision is another milestone in history and a further seal of confidence for the industry from the US Securities and Exchange Commission," says Timo Emden from Emden Research. "Investors are now hoping for further liquidity inflows after the launch of the Ether Spot ETFs." The SEC had already approved Bitcoin spot ETFs in January. This gives investors access to Bitcoin via regulated providers without having to go through a crypto exchange. Despite the positive news, however, the market reaction was muted: Ethereum, the second-largest cyber currency after Bitcoin, lost 2.3 percent to 3667 dollars after initial slight gains. Bitcoin was down 0.8 percent at 67,184 dollars. Since the beginning of May, Ethereum has gained a good 23 percent and Bitcoin twelve percent.

(Report by: Daniela Pegna, edited by Kerstin Dörr. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).