E. German Ballot Results Rally West Financial Picture
The landslide conservative win in East German elections touched off a fresh rally in West German stock prices and pushed the West German mark sharply higher against most major currencies today.
“I am totally optimistic for the German market,” said Klaus Heintzen, senior share trader for Bankhaus Bethmann, echoing a widely held belief that West German companies will reap a bonanza from pent-up East German demand.
This sent stock prices up by around 2%, although they later eased as euphoria waned.
The 30-share DAX index closed 17.08 points up at 1,906.77 after hitting a day’s high of 1,931.08 in mid-session.
The mark was fixed higher at 1.6822 per dollar, its highest fixing against the dollar for almost a month. It had traded around 1.70 to the dollar last week.
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