The German DAX index opened marginally higher on Monday, marking the Day of German Unity. Shortly after 9:30 AM, the benchmark index was calculated at approximately 24,460 points, a 0.2% increase compared to the previous day’s closing level.
Despite the ongoing US government shutdown, market optimism appears undeterred. According to Thomas Altmann of QC Partners, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 both reached new record highs on Friday and the DAX concluded a fifth consecutive day of gains. This winning streak is the longest seen since April of this year.
However, Altmann cautioned that the S&P 500 has reached a price-to-book ratio of 5.5. This level has only been surpassed once previously in the index’s history – in March 2000, shortly before the dot-com bubble burst.
The anticipated release of US labor market data for today has been postponed due to the government shutdown, delaying access to this critical economic indicator for investors and the Federal Reserve. This absence of data temporarily removes a potential source of market volatility. Conversely, it also eliminates the possibility of disappointing figures that could trigger a market correction.
Market analysts do not anticipate significant impact from today’s public holiday. A substantial portion of trading volume originates from non-German investors and last year’s trading activity on October 3rd remained within normal ranges.
The euro strengthened slightly on Friday morning, trading at $1.1725, with a dollar fetching €0.8529.