FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A report in the "Handelsblatt" regarding the extension of free emissions certificates by the EU had varying effects across sectors on Wednesday. Shares of Heidelberg Materials were hit, falling by five percent in the morning, while many stocks in the chemicals sector benefited. BASF climbed to the top of the DAX with a gain of 3.6 percent, and in the MDAX, Lanxess, Wacker Chemie, and Evonik posted gains of up to 6.4 percent.
According to the media report, which cites a senior EU official, the European Commission intends to weaken its key climate protection instrument, the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). The plan is to issue free certificates over a longer period than previously scheduled, in order to ease the burden on energy-intensive companies such as those in the chemicals industry.
Heidelberg Materials, on the other hand, suffered from the news—according to traders, because investors had recently bet that the cement group would be a pioneer in achieving emissions-free production. The Heidelberger company had hoped to be handsomely compensated for this, argued one stock market trader. The shares had only recently reached a record high above the 240-euro mark, while the chemicals sector has been performing poorly for a long time. As recently as December, the sector index hit its lowest point since 2022./tih/la/stk
