Chip funds ASML and ASMI give wings to AEX | Financial

The AEX index is 0.6% higher closed at 686.13 points. With that, last month’s top year is in sight at 689 points. The Midkap index wins 0.7% on 1009.53 points.

Frankfurt (-0.3%), where Volkswagen lost 3.3%, and Paris (+ 0.04%) are lagging behind.

The latest British consumer price index disappoints expectations, with the FTSE 100 index closing just 0.3% higher. Figures from the services sector were better than analysts.

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In the Asian trade has shrunk the Nikkei 2%. Shanghai is down 1.3% and the CSI-300 is down 1.6%. Asian chip makers actually fell here: competitor Intel is expanding its new production that will also work for other manufacturers in the United States.

New York divided

New York is partly trading in the plus, the Dow gaining 1.1%, tech stocks lagging the Nasdaq index (-0.4%).

The latest order figure for American durable goods is disappointing: a decrease of 1.1% over February, where the market expected a 0.8% increase.

Investors are also responding to positive signals from Federal Reserve director Lael Brainard, who sees “significant” growth acceleration in North America.

The US 10-year government interest rate rises to 1.634%. The dollar is strengthening again, by 0.1% to $ 1.1836.

“The European stock exchanges and the AEX are mainly driven by good purchasing manager figures, which turned out well,” says economist Léon Cornelissen.

“Mainly because of the enormous support packages from the United States, there are also concerns among investors about overheating of that economy. This drives interest rates and causes unrest, ”he says.

“This fear of higher interest rates is still relatively limited at the moment due to the increase in the number of corona infections; that does not look good at all and this is hitting the economic recovery. These concerns about interest rates and corona mean that the European Central Bank may want to take steps, ”says the economist Cornelissen.

Oil recovers

The price of Brent oil is up 5.2% to $ 64 a barrel after a 5% drop on Tuesday.

The blockade by the Taiwanese 200,000-ton container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal, with destination Rotterdam, is taking its toll, says ABN Amro energy specialist Hans van Cleef.

“There is quite a bit of oil going through the Suez Canal. A blockade means a detour and therefore higher transport costs. Still, I am not surprised if it is also partly buying positions again, after the strong price falls yesterday and last week. ”

Coronazorgen

In Germany, the number of new corona infections has doubled in the last 24 hours. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports nearly 16,000 new cases.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and state prime ministers decided to extend the lockdown until April 18.

For the Easter weekend, Germany is nevertheless implementing a relaxation, reports Der Spiegel. The Netherlands, France and Italy extended their restrictions. New lockdowns “paint a bleak picture of the pace of the economic recovery in the eurozone,” said ING analyst Simon Wiersma.

Chips in trek

In the AEX ASML with 15.05% index weighting 4.2% higher. The American chip giant Intel, a customer of the chip machine maker from Veldhoven, is investing $ 20 billion in, among other things, the construction of two factories in Arizona. It is also expanding in Europe.

Industry colleague ASMI increases 5.2%. Chip Fund Iron advances 3.8%.

According to Corné van Zeijl, an analyst at asset manager Actiam, Intel’s lust for investment is a “positive sign for the entire chip sector”.

Analysts at Credit Suisse also see that ASML and ASMI are benefiting significantly. Wim Zwanenburg of Stroeve & Lemberger expects the Dutch NXP, main supplier to car manufacturers, to continue to rise on the New York stock exchange. “Equities in the auto sector, which has been in shortages for months, will particularly benefit,” predicts the tech analyst.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal wins 4.1%. Broadcaster Randstad (+ 1.9%) follows at a distance.

RD Shell, that on Tuesday had to give up ground after the oil price cooled, bounces back at an index weighting of 11% by 1.6%.

Just Eat Takeaway however, is in the rear (-2.1%). Index heavyweight Unilever with 14.64% weighting in the AEX and Heineken lose 0.5% and 1.1% respectively.

Ahold Delahaize is down 0.6%. French supermarket group Carrefour and investors bought Grupo BIG Brasil for € 1.1 billion.

Galapagos in the back

Belongs to medium-sized funds Pharming to the larger descenders with a decline of 1.7%.

Soil researcher Fugro wins here thanks to a 4% increase

Stainless steelmaker Aperam increases 2.9%. Degroof Petercam puts the share on its buy list. Aviation concern Air France KLM thickens 2.9%.

Chemical technology company Avantium will be worth 6.4% more for small funds. It performed slightly better than expected in 2020, according to ING analyst Reginald Watson.

Investment fund Value 8 drops 0.8% on quarterly figures reported by director Peter Paul de Vries on Wednesday. In its completed financial year, it achieved a net profit of € 13.25 million, with earnings per share of € 1.31. In 2018, this profit was € 0.42.

Will the stock markets rise further in the coming months? And what are interesting stocks? Two stock market experts will give their vision during a DFT seminar on Thursday evening. Report you here.

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