Investors on the German stock market held back on Monday ahead of the interest rate decisions in the US and the euro area this week. In the early afternoon, the Dax lost 0.33 percent to 14,323.11 points. The MDax fell on Monday afternoon by 0.49 percent to 25,478.56 points and the EuroStoxx 50 lost 0.46 percent.

Among the individual stocks in the Dax, Symrise came to the fore and grew by 1.7 percent. A merger of enzyme specialists Novozymes and Chr. Hansen sparked imagination in the food additive industry.

In the MDax, Rheinmetall rose by a little more than two percent to a high since the beginning of July. The papers of the automotive supplier and armaments group benefit from a large order for exhaust gas recirculation modules.

Among the second-line stocks, Va-Q-Tec jumped almost 43 percent to EUR 25.40 due to a takeover that was probably in the offing. Shortly after the stock market closed on Friday, it was announced that a merger with the financial investor EQT was being sought.

Analyst comments also helped Beiersdorf gain 1.4 percent, while Fresenius fell 3.8 percent. In the MDax, ProSiebenSat.1 and Teamviewer each lost around 2.6 percent after negative analyst studies.

The euro was last seen at $1.0564 on Monday. The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate at $1.0559 on Friday. On the bond market, the current yield rose from 1.81 percent on Friday to 1.85 percent. The Rex pension index fell by 0.64 percent to 127.98 points. The Bund future rose 0.43 percent to 140.97 points.