- Turbulent stock-market year 2007
- Renewed dividend increase
- Capital-market presence further improved
Turbulent stock-market environment
The real-estate crisis in the United States, record oil prices, new peaks for the euro against the US dollar, share-price fluctuations – the year 2007 was extremely turbulent on the stock markets. Nonetheless, the DAX ended the year at 8,067, or 22% higher than a year earlier and just slightly below its all time high of July 17, 2007.
However, after peaking in the summer, the index at first slumped, followed by several months of sharp fluctuations. Share prices were driven down particularly by fears of future recession in the United States and by the significant growth slowdown in Europe. The DAX actually fell to 7,270 within four weeks, before slowly recovering and passing the 8,000 mark for a while during a moderate year-end rally in December.
Economic perspectives contributed to the fact that shares in small and medium-sized companies displayed weaker development. Significant cash outflows out of the stock market were to be observed. The biggest losers were in sectors highly dependent on the economic cycle, while defensive stocks performed relatively well.
After developing better than the DAX in recent years, the MDAX gained only 5% during the year 2007, not least due to profit-taking. At the end of the year, the MDAX was at 9,865.