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Dax in the red:
trader on the Frankfurt stock exchange
Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen / picture-alliance / dpa
Losses on the stock exchange: The discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus in Great Britain as well as the border closings and flight bans in Europe should put a significant strain on the stock exchanges at the beginning of Christmas week.
In addition, there is still no agreement on a Brexit trade deal - and the time for timely ratification by the EU Parliament has expired.
The broker IG estimated the Dax about two hours before the start 1.2 lower to around 13,480 points.
The record high, which was only just missed on Friday, is now out of focus for the German leading index.
The Dax reached its historic high in February at almost 13,800 meters.
Europe is increasingly sealing itself off from the United Kingdom because of the variant of the virus identified in the UK.
Germany and numerous other European countries announced flight bans or border closings with the United Kingdom on Sunday.
According to initial findings by British scientists, the virus is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form.
Asia's stock markets weaker
Asian stocks fell on Monday following the outbreak of a potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK.
The Nikkei index, which comprises 225 values, was 0.4 percent lower at 26,649 points.
The broader Topix index fell 0.6 percent and stood at 1783 points.
The Shanghai stock exchange, on the other hand, was up 0.6 percent.
The index of the most important companies in Shanghai and Shenzen gained 0.6 percent.
The MSCI index for Asian stocks outside of Japan fell 0.5 percent.
$ 900 billion: US Congress agrees on US aid package
Even an agreement on a billion dollar economic stimulus package in the USA could not initially lift the mood of investors.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans and Democrats agreed on an approximately $ 900 billion corona bailout package due to be passed Monday.
Window dressing the fund
The fund managers' window dressing in the Dax could provide some support in a weak overall market.
Fund managers who missed the rally and have not yet been able to offer their investors good returns want to hide their weaknesses.
As a result, they toss stocks that have performed badly from their portfolio and buy the stocks that have done well instead.
In the week leading up to Thursday, there is only a small amount of economic data on the agenda, none of which should move the market.
In Germany, the most important event on Tuesday could at most be GfK consumer confidence for January.
On the company side, too, things are likely to be rather calm.
However, changes to the indexes take effect.
While everything stays that way in the Dax, Siemens Energy is included in the MDax, displacing the leasing specialist Grenke.
This descends into the SDax and takes the place of Tele Columbus.
There are also six other new additions to the small caps index, including the automotive supplier ElringKlinger.
In addition, corona crisis winners such as the online furniture retailers Home24 and Westwing are included in the small cap index.
Tesla buying panic for index funds
The upcoming entry of Tesla into the US S&P 500 index promises a sharp increase in trading volume in the shares of the electric car manufacturer.
According to the index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices, funds that track the S&P 500 index 1: 1 must buy Tesla shares with a volume of 80 billion dollars by the close of trading on Friday in order to have the company in their portfolios according to its weighting .
Tesla's price has increased almost eightfold since the beginning of the year.
Since the announcement of the move into the S&P 500 in November alone, Tesla titles have gained around 60 percent.
Tesla shares also hit a record high on Friday.
Dax, Dow and stocks at a glance:
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Profit-taking at vaccine manufacturer Moderna
Vaccine maker Moderna shares fell on Friday despite the FDA granting emergency approval to the US pharmaceutical company's corona vaccine.
According to market rumors, the US is also preparing to blacklist Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and dozens of other Chinese companies in the dispute with China.
The euro is falling after a multi-year high
The euro fell somewhat in early trading.
In the morning, the common currency cost $ 1.2250, after having reached a high since April 2018 at $ 1.2273 the day before.
Oil prices hit their highs since March
he oil prices fell slightly from an elevated level in early trading on Friday.
In the morning a barrel (159 liters) of the North Sea variety Brent cost 51.27 US dollars.
That was 23 cents less than the day before.
The price of a barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 17 cents to $ 48.19.
Copper price at eight-year high
Speculation about a US stimulus package is driving copper prices to their highest level in eight years on Friday.
On the London stock exchange LME, the industrial metal is 1.4 percent more expensive to $ 8,028 per ton.
The Chinese futures contract gained 2.2 percent to 59,620 yuan ($ 9,110).
"It will continue to go up," predicts raw materials trader Anna Stablum from the Marex Spectron broker.
"The demand is huge, stocks low and more money is coming into the system."
ak / dpa-afx, Reuters
