FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The Dax ultimately remained just above the 19,000-point mark on Wednesday. At 19,003.11 points at the end of trading, Germany's leading index had curbed its daily loss to 0.16 percent, but continued the weak performance of the previous day. The MDax of medium-sized companies ultimately fell by 0.80 percent to 26,239.67 points.

"Following Trump's election as President of the USA, global investors are clearly favoring American companies and are continuing to shift their capital from other stock markets to New York," commented analyst Konstantin Oldenburger from trading firm CMC Markets. The further development of the leading US index Dow Jones Industrial after the current consolidation phase will also show "whether the (Dax) excursion below 19,000 (points) was of a short-term nature and only a kind of adjustment has taken place".

The leading eurozone index, the EuroStoxx 50, closed midweek just in the red. There was also little change in Zurich and London. New York's leading index, the Dow Jones Industrial, gained 0.4 percent at the end of European trading, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell slightly.

In the DAX, the focus was on the record-high shares of high-flyer Siemens Energy. With a price jump of 19 percent, they led the list of winners unchallenged and are heading for a quadrupling since the beginning of the year. The energy technology group published figures for the past financial year and raised its medium-term targets. In view of this, analyst Akash Gupta from the investment bank JPMorgan did not consider the shares to be too expensive before the start of trading, despite their record run.

RWE took second place behind Siemens Energy on Wednesday with a plus of a good 6 percent. The energy company's shares benefited not only from optimism about its annual profit, but also from announced share buybacks worth 1.5 billion euros. Goldman Sachs expert Alberto Gandolfi praised a "new era in the use of funds". It is shareholder-friendly, as it is financed by reducing the investment budget.

In the small-cap index SDax, front-runner Auto1 staged a recovery rally with a price increase of more than 13 percent. The shares thus remained only just below their high for the year. The online car dealer continues to make progress in its efforts to improve results. Analysts attested to another surprisingly strong quarter. The full-year targets raised by the bank were also praised, after Auto1 had already raised its profit forecast in the middle of the year.

In contrast, the shares of Dax-last Porsche SE continued their downward slide, falling by 6.2 per cent and reaching their lowest level since April 2020. The Volkswagen owner holding company suffered a profit slump of a good third between January and September with its core investments in the weak automotive industry. However, it confirmed its annual targets for profit and net debt, having already lowered its earnings expectations twice this year with its largest investment, Volkswagen. Porsche SE also holds the majority of voting rights in the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG.

After quarterly figures and a lowered sales forecast, MDax-light RTL had to cope with a 14 percent drop in its share price and a record low. The media group suffered from the persistently sluggish TV advertising market and a lack of revenue from content production. According to analyst Annick Maas from Bernstein Research, market estimates are now likely to fall. In the wake of RTL, the shares of competitor ProSiebenSat.1 in the SDax fell by 6.6 percent.

The euro continued its downward slide and, at 1.0566 US dollars, cost as little as a year ago. The European Central Bank (ECB) had previously set the reference rate at 1.0629 dollars.

The bond index Rex fell by 0.43 percent to 125.64 points. At the same time, the current yield rose from 2.25 to 2.31 percent. The Bund future fell by 0.08 percent to 131.68 points./gl/he

--- By Gerold Lohle, dpa-AFX ---