After a weak September, the Dax started the new month on Monday with significant losses. In the wake of the losses on the US stock markets, the leading German index fell by 1.46 percent to 11,937.09 points in early trading. It was again below the last contested mark of 12,000 points - in the middle of last week it had even slipped to its lowest level since November 2020.

The MDax of medium-sized companies fell on Monday by 1.46 percent to 22,042.81 points and the eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 lost 1.31 percent to 3274.69 points.

Investors, meanwhile, are eagerly awaiting European and US PMIs, which will provide new insights into the state of industry at a time of very high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates. In this context, the markets are increasingly pricing in the risk of a recession. On the company side, the focus was on RWE with a billion-dollar takeover and United Internet with an increased profit forecast.