German Stocks Rise a Fifth Day; Commerzbank, ThyssenKrupp Climb

By Julie Cruz

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks advanced for a fifth consecutive day, the longest winning streak since July, as Commerzbank AG rallied and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc recommended ThyssenKrupp AG shares.

The benchmark DAX Index rose 0.7 percent to 5,612.34 at 9:37 a.m. in Frankfurt, after closing at the highest level in 2009 yesterday. The gauge has soared 53 percent since March 6 as companies worldwide from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Bayer AG posted better-than-projected earnings and economic data signaled the global recession is nearing an end. The broader HDAX gained 0.8 percent today.

Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank, added 7.7 percent to 9.15 euros. The stock reached a high for the year yesterday after Chief Executive Officer Martin Blessing said the company plans to return the remaining 5 billion euros ($7.2 billion) of unused debt guarantees that it received from the country’s Soffin bank-rescue fund.

ThyssenKrupp, the nation’s biggest steelmaker, soared 3 percent to 24.09 euros after RBS raised the stock to “buy” from “hold.” Separately, SIAG Schaaf Industrie AG said it’s acquiring the company’s Nordseewerke in Emden, Germany.

SAP AG, the world’s largest maker of business-management software, climbed 1.7 percent to 34.76 euros after reiterating its forecast for the rest of the year. The company will be “vigilant” on costs and hasn’t made plans to begin hiring again, Bill McDermott, president of SAP’s global field operations, said yesterday at a Citigroup Inc. technology conference in New York.

Texas Instrument Forecast

Infineon Technologies AG, Europe’s second-biggest maker of semiconductors, rose 2.6 percent to 3.95 euros, while Aixtron AG, a maker of machines to coat semiconductors, increased 2.7 percent to 15.46 euros.

Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, raised its third-quarter sales and profit forecasts because of improving demand for chips used in computers and consumer electronics. ASML Holding NV, Europe’s biggest maker of semiconductor equipment, also boosted its sales forecast.

Bilfinger Berger AG jumped 3.9 percent to 46.48 euros, on course for the highest close in more than a year. Germany’s second-biggest builder was raised to “buy” from “hold” at Societe Generale SA, which said in a report the services business is “holding up better than expected, leading us to raise our estimates from 2009.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Cruz in Frankfurt at jcruz6@bloomberg.net.