FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Despite setting a new record, the Dax lost a moderate amount of ground on Friday. After rising to 20,522 points, investors got cold feet and the gains dried up. At the end of trading, the price charts for the leading German index showed a fall of 0.10 percent to 20,405.92 points. Over the week as a whole, it only managed a tiny gain of the same magnitude.

Since the beginning of the year, however, the share price has risen by an impressive 22%. Despite concerns about the domestic economy and the early parliamentary elections in February, only a few indices can boast even more significant gains - such as the broad market US index S&P 500 and the technology-heavy selection index Nasdaq 100.

"The lid remains (on) at 20,500 points," commented analyst Konstantin Oldenburger from broker CMC Markets on the end of the Dax week. For Uwe Streich from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), "the brilliant year-end rally raises fears that the markets have overshot the mark". He criticized a clear discrepancy between the strong price and weak earnings performance.

Share prices also weakened elsewhere on Friday. The MDax of medium-sized German stock market companies lost 1.06 percent to 26,527.69 points. The leading eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 was similarly unmoved as the Dax, while prices in Zurich and London fell slightly. The leading US index Dow Jones Industrial rose slightly at the end of European trading, the Nasdaq 100 a little more./gl/nas