The Dax started Shrove Monday with a slight plus. In the first few minutes of trading, the leading German index rose 0.2 percent to 15,519 points. After its high for the year two weeks ago at 15,658 points, the Dax has recently been on the spot - mainly because of interest rate concerns that have boiled up again in the USA.

At the start of the week, the MDax for medium-sized companies rose by around 0.3 percent to 28,935 points. The euro zone leading index EuroStoxx 50 was up 0.2 percent.

All in all, investors can expect a quiet start to the week - less because of the Shrove Monday parades in this country than because of the closed US stock exchanges on "President's Day".