Enlarge image
Floor of the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt am Main: Miraculous increase in technical problems
Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa
Since Russia's attack on Ukraine, alleged technical difficulties in transporting gas to Europe have increased: On Friday, Russia again announced a complete halt to deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline - allegedly due to maintenance work.
Experts consider this implausible, and investors are becoming increasingly nervous.
On Monday morning, the gas price on the spot market shot up by 30 percent at times according to the first reports, but later it was still around 20 percent higher than on Friday.
As a result, the most important stock market index, the Dax, lost more than three percent at times.
At the end of last week, good figures from the US labor market pushed the leading German index above the 13,000 point mark.
The MDax of medium-sized stocks fell by a good 2.8 percent on Monday morning.
The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 lost 2.6 percent.
Fear of a Lehman-type crisis
The euro also came under pressure.
On Monday morning, the common currency fell as low as $0.9881, its lowest level in almost 20 years.
The last time a euro cost less was at the end of 2002.
The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate at $0.9993 on Friday.
Germany gets practically no more gas from Russia, at least not directly.
In addition to the alleged technical difficulties, the Kremlin blames the sanctions policy for the gas supply stop.
However, it is suspected that Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin actually wants to increase the pressure on the West – and especially on Germany.
"Fear of a Lehman-like crisis in the European energy sector is growing," wrote Jochen Stanzl, chief market analyst at trading house CMC Markets.
Bad mood among consumers
The high prices are already having an enormous impact on consumer sentiment in the country.
The consumption barometer determined by the German Retail Association (HDE) reached “a new all-time low” in September after falling to a record low in August, as the association announced.
A trend reversal is "not in sight" - so that the coming months will probably be characterized by consumer restraint.
The barometer does not show the current purchasing behavior of consumers, but the expected mood in the next three months.
Among other things, 1,600 people were asked about their propensity to buy, their propensity to save and their financial situation.
Federal relief package
The traffic light coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to relieve the citizens of rising prices with a third support package of more than 65 billion euros.
One of the planned measures is that a reduced price should apply for a certain basic consumption of electricity.
Customers would then have to pay the market price for additional consumption.
The price brake is to be financed by skimming off excessive profits on the electricity market.
This news is likely to weigh noticeably on the shares of utilities such as RWE or E.on.
The papers were listed on the Tradegate trading platform four percent below the Xetra close on Friday.
mik/dpa-AFX
