Despite increasing concerns about inflation in the USA, the German stock market initially held up well at the start of the week. The Dax rose by 0.5 percent to 12,495 points in the first few minutes of trading. The MDax of medium-sized German companies gained 0.4 percent on Monday morning to 22,425 points. The leading eurozone index, the EuroStoxx 50, rose by 0.5 percent.

The Dax comes from a turbulent previous week: after being able to defend the round mark of 12,000 points with difficulty, on Friday afternoon it had climbed to its highest level since the end of September with 12,676 points. However, it was unable to maintain this level given the weak US stock markets. Inflation forecasts released by the University of Michigan on Friday increased concerns that the US Federal Reserve will have to continue its restrictive course in the fight against inflation rates.