The DAX began the week on a positive note, finishing the Xetra session at 24,797 points-a rise of 1.1 % compared with the previous trading day.
Christine Romar, Head of Europe at CMC Markets, noted that the morning seen gold, silver, Bitcoin and the DAX still echoing Friday’s turbulence quickly steadied across all asset classes as the market day progressed. “It looks as if the many speculative, jittery hands that were active over the weekend have fled the markets” she said. “This healthy correction in the precious‑metal markets initially helped the DAX work its way roughly 400 points upward from the 9 am opening dip. Yet the situation for gold and silver remains fragile and therefore still highly toxic to equity markets”.
Romar cautioned that the notion of markets now returning to normalcy and volatility permanently easing should be doubted. The past few days have vividly illustrated the vulnerability of every asset class after debates about a bubble in U.S. technology stocks, the geopolitical chaos surrounding Greenland, the Fed’s independence discussion, and erratic movements in precious metals. Many investors are still on edge and will likely need considerable time to recover from the recent shocks.
“Any small impulse could spark sudden nervousness in the coming days” she added. This week there are already several potential catalysts: even the modest U.S. shutdown, the simmering Iran crisis, and the U.S. labor‑market data released on Friday. These uncertainties could still jolt the markets if accompanied by significant news. Investors’ appetite for taking profits on equity indexes remains near record highs.
On the currency front, the euro weakened in the afternoon: one euro was worth 1.1807 U.S. dollars, and one U.S. dollar fetched 0.8470 euros.
Gold prices fell sharply in the early afternoon, trading at $4,688 per fine ounce-a decline of 4.3 %. That equates to €127.65 per gram.
Oil prices also dropped considerably; at about 17:00 German time, a barrel of Brent crude fetched $66.06, down 32.6 cents or 4.7 % from the previous day’s close.