Continental, E.ON, Henkel, RWE, Siemens: German Equity Preview

By Andreas Hippin

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in Germany today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are from the previous close.

The X-DAX Index fell 2.3 percent to 6,168.22. The measure, derived from trading in DAX Index futures, provides an estimate of Germany's benchmark index. The DAX retreated 151.7, or 2.4 percent, to 6,153.30.

313 Music JWP AG (JWP GY): Major investors in the music company which emerged from Jack White Productions AG offered their support, Berlin-based Tagesspiegel said. The company will publish its annual report next week, according to the report. The shares jumped 9 euro cents, or 18 percent, to 59 cents.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW GY): The world's biggest luxury carmaker has reached only half of its target to cut 8,100 jobs by the end of the year, Auto Motor und Sport reported, citing Manfred Schoch, a supervisory board member and BMW works council head. The shares dropped 1.1 euros, or 3.7 percent, to 28.76 euros.

Continental AG (CON GY): Schaeffler Group, a closely held German car-parts maker, held talks with Continental about taking the company private and may spin off Continental's tire business to help finance the transaction, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said, citing unidentified people.

Hannes Boekhoff, a spokesman for Hanover, Germany-based Continental, and Detlef Sieverdingbeck, a spokesman for Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Schaeffler Group, both said their companies don't comment on speculation.

The shares slumped 4.44 euros, or 7.6 percent, to 53.96 euros.

E.ON AG (EOA GY): Shares of the world's largest utility by sales, RWE AG (RWE GY) and Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK GY) may move after Chancellor Angela Merkel told Bild am Sonntag she will stand up for prolonging the lifespan of the country's nuclear power plants beyond their scheduled permanent shutdown.

E.ON shares retreated 2.38 euros, or 1.9 percent, to 122.39 euros. Shares of RWE, Germany's second-largest utility, slipped 1.02 euros, or 1.3 percent, to 77.81 euros. Energie Baden- Wuerttemberg, the country's third-biggest, was unchanged at 45.50 euros.

Freenet AG (FNT GY): Chief Executive Officer Eckhard Spoerr predicted shareholders United Internet AG and Drillisch AG will boost their joint stake in the German mobile-phone and Internet company to 29.9 percent, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing an interview with Spoerr. The shares added 14 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 12.33 euros.

GfK AG (GFK GY): Germany's biggest market research company sees ``good prospects'' for taking over U.K.'s Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc, Berlin-based Welt am Sonntag reported, citing Chief Executive Officer Klaus Wuebbenhorst. The shares fell 92 cents, or 4.2 percent, to 21.10 euros.

Henkel KGaA (HEN3 GY): The maker of Persil detergent and Dial soap said it will raise prices as some of its raw material costs almost doubled, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported, citing an interview with Chief Financial Officer Lothar Steinebach. The shares declined 1.09 euros, or 4.5 percent, to 23.39 euros.

Highlight Communications AG (HLG GY): EM.Sport Media AG (EV4 GY), the company partly owned by German media entrepreneur Leo Kirch, won't increase its stake in Highlight beyond 49 percent, Spiegel magazine reported, citing no one. The shares decreased 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to 7.13 euros.

Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NDA GY): Europe's largest copper refiner plans acquisitions outside of Europe, such as in Asia and South America, Euro am Sonntag said, citing Chief Executive Officer Bernd Drouven. The shares rose 1.17 euros, or 3.3 percent, to 36.30 euros.

Siemens AG (SIE GY): The region's largest engineering company may exit a computer-manufacturing venture with Japan's Fujitsu Ltd., the world's last computer maker to produce PCs in a high-income country, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. Siemens shares retreated 1.78 euros, or 2.5 percent, to 68.78 euros.

Wirecard AG (WDI GY): Oyster Asset Management SA reduced its stake in the vendor of online payment software to about 9,000 companies below 3 percent. The shares fell 29 cents, or 4.2 percent, to 6.62 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreas Hippin in Frankfurt at ahippin@bloomberg.net.