FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The DAX is facing a weak week on Friday. The German leading index is likely to continue the weakness of the past few days, which was only interrupted by slight gains on the previous day. Broker IG calculated the leading German index a good two hours before the Xetra start 0.4 percent lower at 19,365 points. This would bring its weekly loss to around 1.5 percent. In New York, trading had ended the previous evening with mixed results.

According to market observer Thomas Altmann, the "great momentum on the European stock market is gone for the time being". However, the expert is not worried, as the basic optimism of investors remains intact. This is underpinned by the relatively low level of hedging activity he is still observing on futures and the options market. Altmann sees something surprising in this after the good performance of the DAX, which has gained 16% this year. In addition, the US presidential elections are still a major event on the horizon.

On the stock market, the results of Mercedes-Benz are in the spotlight at the end of the week, although a profit warning has been known here since September. Attention will also remain focused on other forms of investment, as according to Altmann, the bond market has been betting on even faster interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank since Thursday./tih/jha/