FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The DAX is likely to start the new week as the previous one ended: weak. Just under two and a half hours before the start of Xetra trading on Monday, the broker IG estimated the leading German index down 0.9 percent at 17,497 points.

Following the price slide in the previous week in the wake of weak global stock markets and fears of a recession in the USA, the index is gradually heading towards the much-noticed 200-day line, which provides an indication of the longer-term trend. The technical indicator stands at 17,399 points.

The conditions remain unfavorable. In New York, the price losses continued on Friday. In Japan, the Nikkei slumped again on Monday. The Tokyo benchmark index has already lost more than 15 percent from its record high in July. The rise in the yen, possible interest rate hikes and the gloomy economic outlook for the USA are undermining investor confidence there./ajx/jha/