The setback from the previous day does not seem to have thrown the Dax off its stride on its recent recovery rally. Shortly after trading began on Thursday, the leading German index gained 0.72 percent to 12,607.66 points.

It has recovered by more than 6 percent from its low of 11,862 points since November 2020. The fact that there were no major profit-taking the day before after the rally and despite a restrained Wall Street gives hope for further price gains towards the 13,000 mark, wrote analyst Jochen Stanzl from broker CMC Markets.

The MDax of medium-sized companies rose 1.22 percent to 23,262.19 points in early Thursday trading. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 was 0.6 percent higher.