KION shares
Significant rally in the equity markets despite concerns about the economy
Although the global economy was experiencing a period of weakness and tensions surrounding trade and other geopolitical issues remained high, equity markets worldwide staged a marked recovery over the course of 2019, with some reaching record highs. This was influenced by improved expectations, which had previously assumed a significant economic slowdown in places, or even a recession. Moreover, various risk factors diminished noticeably, including the threat of a hard Brexit, destabilisation of the euro due to a lack of budgetary discipline and interest-rate hikes in the US. Widespread falls in company profits had already been largely priced in and had triggered a major downturn in the stock markets in 2018. Consequently, an upward trend emerged in 2019. The interest-rate environment provided a tailwind as, apart from equities and products based on them, few investments with good returns were available. Over the year as a whole, the DAX added 25.5 per cent while the MDAX gained 31.2 per cent.
