FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After slight losses in the middle of the week, the Dax returned to the path of recovery on Thursday. Support came from the USA. After a public holiday the day before, the broad-market S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 set new records there, with the Nasdaq 100 at times only a few points short of the 20,000 mark.

However, while the US stock market subsequently lost momentum and the Nasdaq 100 gave up its gains at the European close, the Dax continued to rise and ended trading up 1.03% at 18,254.18 points. The leading German index thus continued to rise from the round mark of 18,000 points. The MDax, which includes mid-caps, gained 0.96 percent to 25,715.76 points. The major expiry date on the futures markets on Friday could also have influenced prices.

Sartorius shares were the day's winners on the Dax, recovering somewhat from their previous day's losses of over 14 percent with a gain of 4.6 percent. Statements made by the pharmaceutical and laboratory supplier at a Citigroup healthcare conference in London were probably decisive for the recent share price losses. Citigroup analyst Peter Verdult wrote that the management was very cautious with regard to a recovery in the current year.