04.07.2024 +++ NASDAQ reaches new ATH +++ Tesla with market advantage? +++ Stock market free day in the USA +++ Rheinmetall with new cooperation +++ Wirecard process with further milestone +++ Porsche limits production of e-vehicles!

After the previous day's losses, Europe's stock markets recovered strongly on Wednesday. The gained 1.2 percent to 18,375 points. Statements made by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell the previous day at a conference in Portugal provided further support. These fueled hopes that interest rate cuts in the USA might not be too far away. The interest rate cut fantasy was reinforced by a very weak ISM service index for June in the USA. The publication of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest open market meeting could now set the tone. However, the US stock markets will be closed on Thursday for a public holiday.

According to media reports, representatives of Tesla $TSLA (+6.49%) and the EU met at Tesla plants in China. The inspection lasted only three days, which could indicate that Tesla could receive a special exemption from the 21 percent tariffs on EV imports from China.

The Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer Porsche $P911 (+0.6%) wants to limit production of its electric flagship Taycan in order to adapt to persistently weak demand for the model. According to the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspapers, the company intends to produce the model in single-shift operation only. Negotiations are currently underway with the works council; no job cuts are planned. A company spokesperson did not wish to comment on the information. (Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten)

Rheinmetall $RHM (+2.51%) gained 4.8 percent. The armaments group wants to cooperate with the Italian armaments group Leonardo in the further development of land defense systems. The two companies want to develop Rheinmetall's new main battle tank (Panther) and the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle and then commercialize them. The project could have a volume of up to 20 billion euros. A buy recommendation from Morgan Stanley also had a supportive effect.

In the Munich Wirecard-trial has reached a milestone after more than a year and a half: the third defendant, ex-accountant Stephan von Erffa, who has remained silent since the start of the trial in December 2022, will testify to the charges for the first time on July 17. The former chief accountant of the group, which collapsed in 2020, confirmed his personal details at the start of the trial, but otherwise has not said a word on the matter during the mammoth proceedings to date. The IV. Criminal Chamber of the Munich Regional Court has promised him a prison sentence of between six and eight years in return for a confession. It is not yet clear whether the former chief accountant will admit or deny the charges in his statement. (Börsen-Zeitung)

The German Lufthansa $LHA (+2.32%) may acquire a stake in the Italian airline ITA Airways. The EU Commission approved the project, but made it a condition that a number of concessions submitted by Lufthansa and the Italian government be effectively implemented in order to ensure competition in Italian air traffic. The approval comes as no surprise from a market perspective, with the Lufthansa share closing 3.1 percent higher.

Curevac $CVAC (-0.34%) lost 1.1 percent, in early trading the shares were still up more than 20 percent. The biotech company is selling the rights to mRNA vaccine candidates to GSK and will receive an upfront payment of 400 million euros. In addition, Curevac will receive up to 1.05 billion euros in milestone payments. In addition, Curevac announced restructuring measures with the aim of reducing operating costs by more than 30 percent. Curevac is now focusing everything on the development of a cancer vaccine. Whether the biotech company will be more successful with this than with the development of a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine remains to be seen. Medical data on a promising drug should be available in the second half of the year

Thursday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

Stock market holiday in the USA

ex-dividend of individual stocks

Iberdrola EUR 0.35

Repsol EUR 0.50

Quarterly figures / company dates Europe

10:00 AT&S AGM

12:00 Sainsbury AGM

No time specified: Baader Bank AGM

Economic data

• 08:00 DE: New orders May seasonally adjusted FORECAST: +0.9% yoy previous: -0.2% yoy
• 08:30 CH: Consumer prices June FORECAST: +0.1% yoy/+1.4% yoy previously: +0.3% yoy/+1.4% yoy
• 11:00 IT: ECB Chief Economist Lane, lecture at the University of Naples
• 16:15 IT: ECB Director Cipollone, keynote speech at national statistics conference
• Untimed: UK: UK elects new parliament