FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Buoyed by hopes of interest rate cuts in the USA, the German stock market continued to rise on Wednesday. This was the seventh consecutive day of gains for the leading Dax index, even if they have remained modest of late. The Dax rose by 0.4 percent to 17,885 points in early trading. The Dax has now made up 5 percent from its recent low at the beginning of the month.

Consumer prices in the USA for July will be published in the afternoon and have a major influence on the Fed's monetary policy. The day before, US producer prices had already supported the indices in Germany, but especially in New York.

The MDax index of medium-sized companies started the day up 0.6 percent at 24,472 points. The EuroStoxx 50, the leading eurozone index, rose by half a percent.

In the middle of the week, the companies' quarterly reports again caused some sharp price swings. In the Dax, the two utility stocks Eon and RWE fell by 1 and 1.5 percent respectively. At RWE, investors complained that the electricity producer had not raised its annual targets after a good second quarter.

In the second tier of the MDax, the quarterly figures of insurer Talanx and travel group Tui drove share prices up by 2.8 and 2.5 percent respectively. K+S trended positively after the fertilizer manufacturer's quarterly figures.

PVA Tepla rose 7.6 percent in the SDax small caps index. The materials refiner was more profitable in the first half of the year than in the same period last year. In contrast, the shares of IT service provider Nagarro and electronics retailer Ceconomy were sold after the quarterly results.

Shares in Thyssenkrupp Nucera benefited from a reiterated buy recommendation from Deutsche Bank, rising 7 percent. A new buy recommendation from UBS for United Internet drove the share price up by 5 percent./bek/stk