Airbus, Rolls Royce and Siemens to develop a hybrid plane

Today’s Topics:

• Dax Overview
• Airbus, Rolls Royce and Siemens to develop a hybrid plane
• SAP and Microsoft join forces
• U.S. markets overview

With a new week around the corner the German DAX still seems unsure about which direction it wants to take. After opening at the 13011 point mark the stock Index increased rampantly to the 13052 day-high and dropped well its below opening price to the 12970 point mark. Succeeding the volatile morning the DAX has been rising ,supported by the EURUSD, for the rest of the trading day hitting the 13066 point mark, effectively increasing by 50 bp. After massive losses of 12% the German TV Mammoth ProsiebenSat1. was able to gain 2,63% throughout the trading day and thus being the biggest winner today. Meanwhile Linde, the industrial gases group which said late on Friday it had received approval from 90 percent of its shareholders for its planned $80 billion tie-up with Praxair is up 2,04%.

Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens have come together to develop a hybrid electric engine as the race intensifies to advance battery technology and electric motors to lower flying costs and move away from fossil fuels. Dubbed the E-Fan X programme, the three companies anticipate flying a demonstrator aircraft in 2020 after ground tests, provisionally on a BAe 146 aircraft. “We see hydro-electric propulsion as a compelling technology for the future of aviation,” Airbus Chief Technology Officer Paul Eremenko said in a joint statement. Airbus will be responsible for the control architecture of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries, and its integration with flight controls. Rolls-Royce will be responsible for the turbo shaft engine and 2 megawatt generator, while Siemens will deliver the 2 MW electric motor.

Business software giants Microsoft Corp and SAP SE have agreed to expand the use of each other’s cloud-based products and services delivered via the internet, they said on Tuesday, as they laid out a common product road map for joint customers. In a joint statement, Microsoft said it would use SAP’s S/4 HANA database to help run its core internal financial planning functions – replacing older SAP software, while SAP said it would run more than a dozen of its critical internal financial systems on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service. The long-time partners said the latest integration of their products was designed to encourage more of their joint customers to run SAP software on Microsoft Azure cloud services. Mutual customers include Coca-Cola Co, Columbia Sportswear Co and Costco Wholesale Corp. SAP encourages its customers to run its products not only on Microsoft Azure but also on rival cloud platforms from Amazon, Google, IBM and SAP’s own in-house cloud services. The two companies agreed 18 months ago to work together to integrate Microsoft Office 365, the cloud-based version of Microsoft’s flagship productivity software, into SAP, while SAP agreed to run its HANA database software on Microsoft Azure.

Wall Street got off on the right foot yesterday morning after the Thanksgiving Day weekend, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index, and the NASDAQ all racing to new all-time highs in the first hour of trading. On point, the Dow jumped by some 80 points at its morning peak, while the NASDAQ was about 10 points to the good. Optimism about holiday sales in the wake of some positive early shopping indications and as a sense that at least some tax reform measure will pass by yearend dominated the early thinking. However, this initial burst of optimism was short-lived, and as we reached the noon hour in New York, the Dow had given back just about all of its early rise (it had actually turned negative briefly), while the S&P 500 Index and in particular the NASDAQ had gone into the red, as profit taking took hold. Then, after this late-morning selling burst, the market steadied somewhat, with the Dow turning positive once more. However, the comeback was not fully inclusive, as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ remained in the minus column as we moved into the afternoon. The mid-session pullback evolved as the early rally in the retail stocks fizzled. The gains had took hold after signs pointed to a solid showing on Black Friday. The early upturn also reflected some optimism ahead of Cyber Monday’s results. Several chains, in fact, led by Dillard’s Inc., turned nicely higher. On the other hand, stocks of other retailers faltered on the day. Meantime, as noted, investors also were watching for developments surrounding the Republicans tax plan, with the Senate vote scheduled for this week. Also in the news was Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan, who said on Sunday that he would support a December interest rate increase. Earlier, he had been on the fence regarding such a policy action. He also warned of possible financial imbalances going forward, noting that the stock market has gone for 12 straight months without even a 3% correction. Overall, stocks wilted as the afternoon proceeded, with the aggregate mood being influenced by this news ahead of further Washington dealings. Things would change little as the afternoon wound down, so that as we entered the homestretch, the indexes remained range bound, as before, with the Dow clinging onto a small gain, while the other indexes fell back modestly. All told, as the final bell sounded, the Dow was able to hold on to a 23-point advance, while losses of one and 11 points, respectively, were tallied by the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ. The small-cap Russell 2000 also softened, while nearly all of the ten leading equity groups closed lower. Elsewhere, we see that oil prices, which moved lower yesterday and took some oil issues with them, have now started trading with additional early losses. Also, interest rates now are up a bit, while U.S. equity futures are showing some early gains. In sum, the day is likely to be influenced by the latest news on taxes, the economy, and the Fed.

Today’s Economic Calendar:

• International Trade in Goods
• Consumer Confidence
• Richmond Fed manufacturing Index
• State Street Investor Confidence Index