- Title: GERMANY: Traders unfazed by Crimea vote as DAX makes gains in early trading
- Date: 17th March 2014
- Summary: FRANKFURT, GERMANY (MARCH 17, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE SIGN FOR FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING FLOOR TRADERS BOARD SHOWING DAX GRAPH VARIOUS OF TRADERS BOARD SHOWING STARTING VALUE OF DAX FOR THE DAY TRADERS VARIOUS OF BANKING STOCKS TRADER BOARD SHOWING VALUE OF INDICES (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF ECONOMIST OF THE COMMERZBANK, JOERG KRAEMER, SAYING: "In the previous days the markets fell a lot and everyone expected the result of this referendum to be like in the Soviet times so for now there really is no news." TRADERS BOARD SHOWING DAILY LOW VALUE OF THE DAX (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF ECONOMIST OF THE COMMERZBANK, JOERG KRAEMER, SAYING: "Germany sends around three percent of its exports to Russia. This is not especially a lot. Yes, 30 percent of our gas imports come from Russia. This sounds like a lot but on the other hand there are now many other countries which offer gas and the gas reserves here in Germany are very well filled because of the mild winter. So here the dependence of the west seems bigger than it really is when you look again and we must not forget that Russia is relatively weak economically and relies as much on the west as the west does on it." TRADERS BOARD SHOWING DAX UP 0.40 PERCENT (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF ECONOMIST OF THE COMMERZBANK, JOERG KRAEMER, SAYING: "I don't have any data about how much money the individual oligarchs have in Germany or in London. At the end of the day these are economic pinpricks which are meant to hit the political surroundings, so the personal surroundings of Putin. It would also mean problems like for example travel restrictions for individual oligarchs, for the relatives who can no longer go shopping etc but for the economy as whole these are only really pinpricks." VARIOUS OF TRADERS BOARD SHOWING DAX GRAPH TRADING FLOOR
- Embargoed: 1st April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Economy,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA7VS9315UEJ20S39Z4LA33QG7M
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Germany's DAX index saw gains in early trading on Monday (March 17) as traders took a vote in Crimea at the weekend in favour of annexing the region from Ukraine in their stride, with some arguing that they did not expect any immediate escalation in the tensions.
The DAX was up 0.48 percent at 9100 points by 0947GMT, having suffered losses along with other worldwide indices in the previous week on concerns about geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.
"In the previous days the markets fell a lot and everyone expected the result of this referendum to be like in the Soviet times so for now there really is no news," Joerg Kraemer, the head economist for the Commerzbank told Reuters TV in Frankfurt.
Traders said that the markets remained vulnerable, however, depending on the details of possible sanctions by the United States and the European Union that could possibly spark a spiral of economically damaging tit-for-tat measures.
But Kraemer said that any move by Russia to cut gas supplies to Europe would not be too much of a cause for concern, especially for Germany.
"Germany sends around three percent of its exports to Russia. This is not especially a lot. Yes, 30 percent of our gas imports come from Russia. This sounds like a lot but on the other hand there are now many other countries which offer gas and the gas reserves here in Germany are very well filled because of the mild winter. So here the dependence of the west seems bigger than it really is when you look again and we must not forget that Russia is relatively weak economically and relies as much on the west as the west does on it," he said.
European Union foreign ministers were expected to agree asset freezes and travel bans on Russian individuals after the vote.
But Kraemer said that such sanctions would not have a significant effect on the Russian economy.
"I don't have any data about how much money the individual oligarchs have in Germany or in London. At the end of the day these are economic pinpricks which are meant to hit the political surroundings, so the personal surroundings of Putin. It would also mean problems like for example travel restrictions for individual oligarchs, for the relatives who can no longer go shopping etc but for the economy as whole these are only really pinpricks," he said.
EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Monday morning and were expected to discuss the possible sanctions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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