FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Rising prices on the stock markets in the USA and China should also support the stock markets in Europe and thus the DAX on Friday. At a price of 17,676 points, the broker IG assessed the German leading index two hours before the Xetra start as hardly changed in percentage terms near its previous day's close.

Recession worries in the USA had eased somewhat following encouraging data from the jobs market, the market said. In China, meanwhile, higher inflation boosted share prices on hopes of a recovery in domestic demand.

According to chart analyst Martin Utschneider from Finanzethos, the DAX is gradually moving upwards again. The massive downward momentum that started at the beginning of August has now been halted for the fourth day in a row. On the upside, the expert sees the next important resistance line at 17,918 points. This is the lower end of the price gap that emerged in the daily chart a week ago.

The Dax is therefore set for a pleasant end to the week after the heavy turbulence at the beginning of the week had pushed it back to almost 17,000 points./ajx/jha/