Frantic trading in Germany

Press, 26 February 1983, Page 20

Frantic trading in Germany

NZPA-Reuter Frankfurt The w est German stock market’s Commerzbank 60share index broke through the 800-point level yesterday for the first time in four years, buoyed by foreign investors sensing a conservative election victory. Dealers said trading was frantic. Turnover was an exceptionally large 251.3 million marks ($NZ143.5 million), just below the 273 million mark ($NZ155.9 million) level reached when the Bourse rallied .sharply last Friday. Many of the foreign orders came from British and U.S. investors confident that the conservative Christian Democrat (C.D.U.) and Christian Socialist (C.S.U.) parties

will retain power at the March 6 election and continue policies expected to aid an economic recovery later this year, the dealers said. The large volume of orders from abroad also spurred buying by domestic institutions, which had previously been reluctant to commit ’ funds while it seemed uncertain that the Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, would remain in office for the next four years. The Commerzbank index, calculated in the middle of the two-hour Bourse session, surged 12.8 points above Wednesday's finish to 804.1, the first time it has topped 800 since March 9, 1979, and its highest level since February 6 the same year.