German shares were buoyant with all three major indexes on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange showing small gains in early trading on Friday, while the euro eased slightly on currency markets. The 30-share DAX improved 0.3 per cent to 4327 points, with the MDAX list of 70 mid-caps also rising 0.3 per cent, to 5663 points. The technology index TecDAX strengthened by 0.5 per cent to 535 points. The euro was down slightly in early European trading, with markets quoting 1.3355 dollars or 74.83 euro- cents per dollar. The rate was off a fraction from the 1.3378 dollars reference rate set Thursday by the European Central Bank. Traders attributed the euro's slight drop to profit-taking ahead of the weekend after Europe's common currency had made strong mid- week gains on the heels of record-high U.S. current accounts deficit figures.
