German Stocks Fluctuate; Siemens, Adidas Gain as Postbank Falls

By Stefanie Haxel

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks swung between gains and losses as a stronger dollar offset concern the European Central Bank’s interest-rate cut won’t be enough to revive the economy.

Siemens AG and Adidas AG, which get more than a fifth of sales in North America, rose at least 1 percent. Deutsche Postbank AG tumbled 16 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its recommendation for Germany’s biggest consumer bank by clients, saying terms for the revised 4.9 billion-euro ($6.4 billion) deal with Deutsche Bank AG are “negative” for shareholders.

The benchmark DAX Index slipped 0.1 percent to 4,417.28 at 2:49 p.m. in Frankfurt. DAX futures expiring in March dropped 0.4 percent. The broader HDAX decreased 0.1 percent.

“Macro economic data comes in extremely weak and investors are dreading the impact on corporate earnings,” said Matthias Joerss, head of equity strategy at Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. in Frankfurt. “The market is very volatile as investors are playing single news stories.”

The euro declined against the dollar after the ECB cut its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 2 percent, the lowest level in almost six years, to counter an economic slump.

Siemens, Europe’s biggest engineering company, advanced 3.9 percent to 43.97 euros. Adidas, the world’s second-largest sporting goods maker, gained 1.2 percent to 25.71 euros.

The DAX Index has tumbled 45 percent since the beginning of last year as credit losses and writedowns topped $1 trillion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the U.S., Japan and Europe fell into simultaneous recessions.

Economy Watch

Japanese machinery orders fell by a record 16.2 percent in November, twice as much as economists estimated, as businesses cut spending amid a deepening global recession. U.S. reports showed a bigger-than-estimated increase in initial jobless claims and a decline in manufacturing in New York.

Postbank lost 16 percent to 10 euros, extending yesterday’s 17 percent slump. JPMorgan cut its recommendation on the shares to “underweight” from “neutral.”

Deutsche Post will get about 8 percent of Deutsche Bank as partial payment for a Postbank stake. Deutsche Bank will acquire 22.9 percent of Postbank for about 1.1 billion euros in stock in a first step and also buy 2.7 billion euros of bonds that will be converted into a 27.4 percent Postbank stake in three years.

The previous agreement, struck last September, would have given Deutsche Bank a bigger initial stake and would have required Germany’s largest bank to buy additional shares sooner.

Deutsche Post climbed 2.6 percent to 9.74 euros.

Infineon, Daimler

Infineon Technologies AG, Europe’s second-largest maker of semiconductors, slid 4.5 percent to 85.5 cents. ASML Holding NV, the region’s largest maker of semiconductor equipment, said revenue will be between 180 million euros and 200 million euros this quarter, compared with a previous forecast of as much as 250 million euros.

Daimler AG slipped 2.5 percent to 24.22 euros as Citigroup Inc. cut its recommendation for the world’s largest truckmaker to “hold” from “buy,” citing “worse truck data.”

The following stocks also rose or fell in German markets. Symbols are in parentheses.

Continental AG (CON GY) plunged 19 percent to 19.95 euros. Europe’s second-largest car-parts maker may raise 1 billion euros in a stock sale as it considers options for covering a possible impairment charge, Continental spokeswoman Antje Lewe said in a phone interview.

GEA Group AG (G1A GY) fell for a seventh day, losing 1.2 percent to 9.88 euros. Citigroup Inc. and DZ Bank AG were among brokerages that cut their share-price estimates after the engineer whose machines milk a third of the world’s daily cows said yesterday orders in 2008 dropped and sales growth may have missed a target.

Lanxess AG (LXS GY) plunged 8.9 percent to 12.64 euros. Germany’s largest publicly traded specialty chemicals maker is cutting production of synthetic rubber products in an effort to reduce costs and respond to a drop in demand.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stefanie Haxel in Frankfurt at shaxel@bloomberg.net.