FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - In the recently weaker Dax, Henkel's shares played out their defensive qualities as a consumer goods stock on Tuesday. The shares also benefited from more optimistic forecasts; the group intends to achieve its medium and long-term targets faster than previously estimated.

The shares continued their recovery after the general phase of weakness on the stock markets at the beginning of August, gaining 0.8 percent in the early afternoon among the best stocks in the leading German index.

Analysts praised the detailed quarterly figures of the Düsseldorf-based company: "The figures are of good quality," wrote James Edwardes Jones of the Canadian bank RBC.