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Hapag-lloyd’s capital market activities I hapag-lloyd interim group report 9M · 2012
Hapag-Lloyd’s
capital market activities
Stock markets depend on central bank policy
Despite disappointing economic growth in the USA and the brisk cool-down of economic activities in the
growth region of Asia, most of the major international stock market indices charted considerable price rises
in the third quarter. America’s leading index, the Dow Jones Industrial, and Germany’s DAX both stood at
their highest level for 12 months in September. Investors’ confidence in both the euro and the international
stock markets improved in particular due to the Federal Reserve’s billion-dollar programme to repurchase
mortgage bonds and the announcement that the European Central Bank (ECB) would continue buying
large quantities of government bonds issued by crisis-hit eurozone countries. The prospect of continuously
low interest rates for the medium term also underpinned the upturn on the stock markets. However, stock
exchange trends are largely driven by liquidity and market experts expect them to remain volatile in the
fourth quarter due to the US presidential election and the weak global economy.
Developments in the most important indices
Indices 28.9.2012 30.12.2011 30.9.2011
Dow Jones Industrial 13,437 12,217 10,913
MSCI World 1,312 1,182 1,104
EuroStoxx 50 2,454 2,316 2,179
DAX Index 7,327 5,898 5,502
Nikkei 225 8,870 8,455 8,700
Source: Bloomberg
As spot rates for container services deteriorated again on the important Far East trade, shares in the publicly
listed container liner shipping companies were unable to participate in the positive stock market mood.
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