FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The Dax reached record highs for the fourth trading day in a row on Thursday. The year-end rally catapulted the leading index towards 20,400 points. Ultimately, the German stock market barometer ended the day 0.63 percent higher at 20,358.80 points.

The rally, which started a week ago, has since brought the DAX an increase of almost 1,100 points or 5.7 percent. Gains since the beginning of the year currently total 21.5 percent. If this remains the case until the end of the year, investors can look forward to one of the best stock market years in the past ten years.

"There is no stopping the German share index these days and many investors are just shaking their heads in disbelief," commented chief market analyst Jochen Stanzl from trading firm CMC Markets. From months of lethargic sideways movement, the index has recently "switched to dynamic rally mode at lightning speed". Technically speaking, there is still room for upward movement to 20,500 points. However, the air is becoming thinner at the level reached. Investors are likely to take profits if the rally does not continue unabated.

The MDax, the index of medium-sized stock market companies, ended trading on Thursday with a gain of 1.16 percent to 27,132.80 points. The leading eurozone index EuroStoxx 50 gained 0.66 percent to 4,951.58 points.

The stock markets in London and Switzerland, on the other hand, barely budged. The situation was similar in the USA. The best-known Wall Street index, the Dow Jones Industrial, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell slightly at the close of trading in Europe. The broad market S&P 500 remained at the previous day's level./ck/mis