Stock exchange in Frankfurt - Dax continues on record course - Merck share price slips
The Dax continued its record-breaking run on Wednesday. In the first hour of trading, the leading German index gained 0.16% to 16,560.04 points. In the year-end rally since the October low, it has so far gained more than 13 percent.
The mid-week picture on the DAX was somewhat clouded by a 13% drop in the price of Merck KGaA shares. The pharmaceutical company suffered another setback with its drug Evobrutinib for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Two studies on the safety and efficacy of the drug had not produced the desired results, it said. As a result, the bank HSBC downgraded Merck shares to "Hold" and removed the sales estimates for Evobrutinib from its valuation model.
The MDax index of mid-sized companies posted a gain of 0.43 percent to 26,605.14 points on Wednesday. It is clearly lagging behind the Dax this year. Its record high from 2021 is a long way off. The eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 gained 0.2 percent in the middle of the week at its highest level since the beginning of August.
In the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, investors were disappointed by Merck KGaA and Fresenius on Wednesday. The medical group is not allowed to pay a dividend for the current year due to government energy subsidies. "Fresenius was a safe dividend stock," said one trader. The share price fell by 1.3 percent.
Better news came from Evotec: a partner of the biotech company received approval in China for a drug to treat sleep disorders. According to a press release, the Hamburg-based drug researcher is now entitled to double-digit royalties on net sales generated by Zhejiang Jingxin Pharmaceutical with Dimdazenil (EVT201). However, Evotec's share price gains have recently dwindled significantly.
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Source: www.stern.de
