Dusseldorf. At the start of the week, the Dax started trading with little movement, but held the 25,000 point mark. The price board shows 25,269 points on Monday. On Friday, the leading German index closed 1.2 percent up at 25,231 points.
Interest rate hopes after the US labor market report for September created a good mood on the markets on both sides of the Atlantic. The situation on the oil and bond markets also eased somewhat.
However, the high energy prices and bond yields are likely to continue to concern investors in the coming days. At the same time, they continue to look at the effects of expensive oil on the economy.
The new economic data week begins on Monday with the barometer from the consulting firm Sentix on the expectations of stock market professionals for the economy in the euro area in October.
In addition, the purchasing managers' indices for the services sector in the euro zone and the USA are due in September and the producer prices for the euro area in August. On the corporate side, Deutsche Telekom is dedicating an investor day to the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) for the first time.
The euro has fallen to its lowest level since May 2025. The common currency temporarily fell 0.8 percent to $1.1161 in Asian trading. Investors are increasingly concerned about political and fiscal risks in the eurozone.
France in particular is in focus. The premium for French government bonds over German federal bonds reached its highest level since 2011 on Friday. At the same time, reports of possible early elections in Spain increased uncertainty.
“Bond and currency markets are clearly signaling investors’ unease about the increasing instability of the French government and the erosion of the country’s fiscal anchor ahead of the 2027 elections,” said Lombard Odier’s Homin Lee.
JPMorgan strategists also see further downside risk for the euro. The common currency has not yet fully priced in developments on the French bond market and could weaken further, particularly against the Swiss franc and the yen.
In addition, the euro is being weighed down by the stronger dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to its highest level since late June on Monday. Following recent developments in France, investors are increasingly turning their attention to the fiscal situation of other heavily indebted countries in the Eurozone.
Incoming orders in German mechanical and plant engineering fell in August. Orders fell by five percent in real terms compared to the previous year, as the industry association VDMA announced on Monday. All indicators declined: domestic demand fell by two percent, while a total of six percent fewer orders were recorded from abroad.
The decline from the euro partner countries, at ten percent, was twice as high as that from the non-euro countries at five percent. VDMA chief economist Johannes Gernandt spoke of a “slight setback” after two months of growth.
For the first eight months of 2026, the key German industry recorded an increase in orders of four percent. However, this is based on a weak previous year and two months with many large orders, explained Gernandt. There is still a lack of new investment dynamics for a lasting upswing. In the less volatile three-month period from June to August, orders increased by a total of seven percent in real terms, driven by exports.
Rheinmetall: The shares of the arms companies Rheinmetall and Hensoldt rose by 0.7 and 0.9 percent. Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered Ukraine a comprehensive aid package during a surprise visit on Sunday. According to the federal government, the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian companies agreed on 14 collaborations with German defense companies with a total volume of around 6.6 billion euros.
Continental: The shares of the tire manufacturer Continental also went up, rising to the top of the DAX with an increase of 2.6 percent. The experts at the US investment bank Morgan Stanley had upgraded the stocks to “Overweight” after previously “Equal Weight”.
Porsche: According to a study, all European car manufacturers meet the European Union's CO₂ limits. Manufacturers have already met 75 percent of the requirements, according to a study by the lobby organization Transport & Environment, which was published on Monday. They have until the end of 2027 to fully implement it. It is to be expected that many manufacturers will achieve their goal before the deadline. Porsche's shares fell by 0.3 percent.
