Hesitation among investors regarding the upcoming speech by the Federal Chairman.

In the financial world, a series of developments have unfolded this week.

Südzucker, the German sugar and ethanol producer, has revised its outlook for the 2025/26 fiscal year, lowering it due to lower prices for its key products. Consequently, the shares of Südzucker listed in the SDax index saw a drop of 2.8% in pre-market trading but managed to recover at the Xetra opening.

Meanwhile, the Dax, Germany's blue-chip index, started slightly weaker on Friday but saw little movement throughout the day, with a modest decline. The index closed at 24,244 points, still within reach of its mid-July record high at 24,639 points. The MDax of medium-sized companies traded slightly positive at 30,691 points on Friday.

Elsewhere, the EuroStoxx 50 fell by 0.1% on Friday. The German benchmark index followed suit, dropping 0.2%.

In the US, the probability of a September interest rate cut has fallen from 90% to around 70%. This shift comes as stronger purchasing manager data and restrictive comments have taken some of the wind out of investors' sails.

Citigroup has downgraded its sell recommendations for defense stocks Hensoldt and Renk, now advising "Neutral" for both. Despite this, the shares of Hensoldt and Renk, which had risen significantly the previous day, gained 1.8% and 2.5% respectively on Tradegate compared to the Xetra close.

Market expert Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote that tension prevails ahead of Powell's speech. The speech by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is eagerly awaited, scheduled for 16:00 CET at the central bank meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Rheinmetall's shares continued to rise, not directly related to the aforementioned developments.

Innes' previous comments about tension ahead of Powell's speech still hold, as investors await the Federal Reserve Chair's address for insights into the future of monetary policy.

Hesitation among investors regarding the upcoming speech by the Federal Chairman.