FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - At the end of a weak week, the Dax made little headway on Friday. At the close of trading, the leading German index was up 0.11 percent at 19,463.59 points. The weekly loss amounted to 1 percent. The MDax of mid-cap blue chips rose by 0.43 percent to 27,259.56 points on Friday.

"A leaden silence is slowly settling over the capital markets," wrote Ulrich Kater, chief economist at Dekabank, with a view to the US presidential election the week after next. Investors therefore reacted less than usual to economic data. The improved Ifo business climate, the most important German economic barometer, hardly served as a price driver before the weekend.

The EuroStoxx 50, the eurozone's leading index, rose by 0.15 percent to 4,943.09 points at the end of trading. In London, the index fell slightly, while Zurich closed slightly up. In the USA, the Dow Jones Industrial benchmark index was slightly down at the close of European trading, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index extended its previous day's gains by 1.2 percent.

On the German market, the focus was on car stocks ahead of the weekend. Mercedes-Benz lost 1 percent following quarterly figures. Weak business in China and disappointing profitability caused displeasure among investors. At the close of trading, sports car manufacturer Porsche AG also presented quarterly figures, which were weak as expected. However, the annual forecast was confirmed. Porsche exited trading 1.6 percent higher.

Continental lost 1.3 percent. The previous evening, French supplier Valeo had lowered its sales outlook, citing the challenges facing the entire industry.

In the MDax, shares in Hellofresh jumped by a fifth. Although the mail-order cooking box company had lowered its sales targets, it was more optimistic about its operating profit.

The euro traded at 1.0812 US dollars after the close of trading. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate at 1.0825 (Thursday: 1.0801) US dollars in the afternoon, meaning that the dollar cost 0.9237 (0.9258) euros.

On the bond market, the current yield rose from 2.22 percent the previous day to 2.24 percent. The bond index Rex fell by 0.15 percent to 126.23 points. The Bund future fell by 0.18 percent to 132.99 points./ajx/he

--- By Achim Jüngling, dpa-AFX ---