FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After the small setback in the middle of the week, the DAX is expected to make some gains on Thursday. Broker IG estimated the leading German index 0.3 percent higher at 18 115 points just two and a half hours before the start of Xetra trading. As a result, the DAX has moved a little further away from the 18,000-point mark, which it had already broken in the meantime. The weekly high for the Dax was 18,214 points on Tuesday.

There was no impetus from the USA, where there was no trading due to the holiday. In Asia, the index fell slightly in the morning./ag/stk