German shares posted small gains at the start of trading Thursday on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, while the euro was firmer in Europe in the wake of record-high U.S. trade deficit figures. Minutes into the new session, the 30-share DAX rose 0.49 per cent to 4229 points. The MDAX list of 70 mid-cap companies gained 0.27 per cent to 5427 points while the technology-oriented TecDAX list strengthened by 0.73 per cent to 526 points. The euro was up strongly on European exchanges as markets reacted to the record U.S. trade deficit figures the day before. Early quotations in Europe put the euro at 1.3250 dollars or 75.43 euro-cents per dollar, up from the European Central Bank reference rate Wednesday of 1.3139 dollars. That pegging came before the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit surged to a record 60.3 billion dollars in November, well above 56 billion dollars in October. After the news, the dollar began falling against the euro, yen and other foreign currencies.
