FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After the hook behind the central bank week and a record rally on both sides of the Atlantic, things could become quieter on the stock markets in the coming days. Influences such as "window dressing" are likely to become an issue again in the final phase of the year, before the festive season arrives. However, the brief jump above the 17,000-point mark is a burden for the DAX - not only for the final phase of this year, but also for 2024.

"Despite all the crises, 2023 will mark the end of a successful year, at least on the capital markets," said Landesbank Helaba in a weekly outlook on Friday.

It is questionable whether the DAX will be able to continue its rally in the final days of the year and add to its annual gain of more than 20 percent. After all, the leading index has only made up the lower part of this since the end of October.

"The ice is slowly melting," said the chart experts at Index-Radar. They reminded us that there was already a late Christmas correction last year. The DAX had reached 14,675 points in mid-December last year, but then slipped to 13,791 points in the days that followed, a drop of six percent.

There could already have been harbingers on Thursday. The European Central Bank had failed to meet high expectations in terms of signals for interest rate cuts in the near future. Index radar experts spoke of fewer "monetary policy gifts" than the Fed had given the day before. After reaching 17,000 points, the Dax closed 1.5 percent below the day's high on Thursday. Investors corrected their overly optimistic expectations of interest rate cuts by the ECB.

"With the jump above 17,000, the Dax has not only reached a record high, but has also overcome the hurdle that most investors on the trading floor thought was insurmountable just a few weeks ago," said capital market strategist Jürgen Molnar from broker RoboMarkets on Friday. Short-term profit-taking is therefore no wonder. He believes it is possible that this will have a dampening effect on trading in the week leading up to Christmas.

In the final phase of the year, the "window dressing" mentioned at the beginning could influence individual stocks that have performed particularly well or poorly this year. Stocks with an above-average performance since the beginning of the year are bought in order to highlight these favorites of the year in the fund's year-end report. The biggest losers, on the other hand, are sold so that these positions do not have to be shown in the annual report.

In the DAX, the three biggest losers are likely to be cemented, provided there are no more surprises: Zalando, Bayer and Siemens Energy are currently at the bottom of the leading index, with losses beyond the 30 percent mark.

Heidelberg Materials, Rheinmetall, Adidas and perhaps SAP are currently vying for the role of the biggest annual winner. However, the high-flyers in the Dax index family are the shares of Redcare Pharmacy, which have roughly tripled in value in 2023 due to hopes for the German e-prescription.

The agenda remains well-filled in the coming months, but without any major highlights. Most of the major central banks have held their meetings. However, the Bank of Japan was a latecomer to the limelight on Wednesday, as there has recently been speculation about a move away from its negative interest rate. However, Helaba's experts believe that the Japanese will save important decisions for 2024.

On the economic front, all eyes in Germany will be on the Ifo Business Climate Index on Monday. Experts believe that the positive trend in the German sentiment barometer will continue. On Tuesday, the final revision of consumer prices in the eurozone should be worth a look. There will also be some US data over the course of the week before the long national holiday weekend kicks off. In the UK, for example, trading will be shortened on Friday.

On the corporate side, things could get exciting once again. Annual figures from electronics retailer Ceconomy and SDax newcomer Thyssenkrupp Nucera are expected on Monday. On Wednesday, final annual figures from Aurubis and Hornbach Holding await investors.

In addition, DHL Group could be influenced on Wednesday by the business figures of its US competitor Fedex, which will be published the evening before after the US stock exchange closes. The same applies to Adidas and Puma on Friday due to the Nike results from late Thursday./tih/ag/mis