Shares remained higher in midafternoon trade amid expectations of a higher opening on Wall Street and sharp gains by index heavyweights, with the four top gainers on the DAX making up more than 25 pct of the index's weighting, dealers said. At 3.05 pm, the DAX 30 index was 20.20 points or 0.44 pct higher at 4,603.83, having moved between 4,576.03-4,606.99 so far this session. The MDAX was at 6,325.18, down 2.18 points or 0.03 pct, while the TecDAX was at 549.72, up 2.72 points or 0.50 pct. The DAX future was at 4,625.50, up 32.50 points or 0.71 pct, while the bund future was at 123.26, up 0.22. The euro last traded at 1.2086 usd, compared with 1.2073 in midday London trade. The DAX opened lower today following losses on Wall Street overnight and amid a lack of corporate news, and caution ahead of a raft of US data and the FOMC decision on interest rates tonight. However, it pushed higher as US stock futures pointed north and amid sharp gains by index heavyweights E.ON and RWE, the latter reaching a fresh seven-year high during today's session.