FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The prospect of share buybacks boosted Commerzbank shares on Thursday. With a price gain of 2.6 percent to 10.80 euros, they topped the Dax in the morning. They left the 50-day line behind them, which is regarded as an indicator of the medium-term price trend.

Late on Wednesday evening, the bank announced that all requirements had been met with the approval of the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB's decision to give the green light for share buybacks was no surprise, noted one trader. Nevertheless, it was positive news. At the current share price, the announced purchase volume of 600 million euros corresponds to around 56 million shares, which is more than the average Xetra trading volume of a Borsen week.

Following its rescue by the state in the 2008/2009 financial crisis and many years of restructuring, Commerzbank has recently made billions in profits again. It also managed to return to the leading German index Dax. However, its largest shareholder is still the German state.

This year, the bank bought back its own shares from the market for the first time - to the tune of 122 million euros. The Executive Board had already announced the second buyback. For the financial years 2022 to 2024, the bank intends to return a total of three billion euros to its shareholders via dividends and share buybacks.

With the current price premium, Commerzbank shares were also in first place in the little-changed European banking sector on Thursday. Since the beginning of the year, they have risen in price by just over 22% and are thus performing slightly better than the sector with a plus of 19%. In the Dax, however, this development is only good enough for a place in the upper midfield.

Until a few months ago, rising interest rates were one of the main drivers for bank shares this year. The price gap from March, when the crisis at some regional banks in the USA dragged the sector down, has long since been wiped out./ajx/bek/mis