German stocks declined on Monday after official data showed Germanys factory orders declined at a faster-than-expected pace in August.
According to preliminary figures from data Destatis, incoming new orders contracted 5.8 percent on a monthly basis in August, reversing Julys upwardly revised 3.9 percent expansion. Orders were expected to fall 1.9 percent.
Further, this was the steepest decline since January, when orders had fallen 10.9 percent. Excluding large orders, new orders dropped 3.4 percent from July.
On a yearly basis, new orders declined 3.9 percent, in contrast to the 4.6 percent increase in the prior month.
The benchmark DAX was down 63 points, or 0.3 percent, at 19,057 after climbing 0.6 percent on Friday.
In corporate news, Heidelberg Materials rose 1.2 percent after a report that Indias Adani Group has entered into talks to acquire its India cement operations in a deal that could be worth about $1.2 billion.