Around the World's Markets: Frankfurt

THE XETRA DAX index fell, closing down 0.91 per cent at 5,249.24 points as political developments in Russia and the US overshadowed Germany's top equity story, the approval of the merger of chemicals group Hoechst AG with French counterpart Rhone Poulenc.

But the Russian President Boris Yeltsin's decision to oust Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, and the resignation of US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, did not deter traders from expecting rises. A trader said: "I think we can reach ... 5,450 points in the next 14 days."