German Stocks Advance as Siemens, Volkswagen, Infineon Increase

By Julie Cruz

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks advanced, led by Siemens AG after Royal Philips Electronics NV unexpectedly posted a profit in the third quarter.

The benchmark DAX Index added 0.6 percent to 5,746.88 as of 9:38 a.m. in Frankfurt. The measure has rallied 57 percent since March 6 as companies reported better-than-estimated earnings and economic data signaled the global recession is nearing an end. The broader HDAX Index increased 0.6 percent today.

Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, climbed 1.9 percent to 65.96 euros. Philips, the region’s biggest consumer- electronics maker, posted net income of 174 million euros ($255.9 million) as operating earnings at the consumer unit more than doubled.

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest carmaker, climbed 1.3 percent to 114.14 euros. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, advanced 1.1 percent to 33.20 euros. A measure of automobiles and parts shares in the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose as much as 0.9 percent, the best performance among 19 industry groups.

Continental AG increased 1.3 percent to 40.28 euros. The company’s revenue from its car-tire unit may grow slightly in 2010, Handelsblatt reported, citing Nikolai Setzer, a management board member and head of the division.

Beiersdorf AG added 1 percent to 41.52 euros. The maker of Nivea skin cream was raised to “neutral” from “underperform” at Credit Suisse Group AG.

Infineon Technologies AG, Europe’s second-largest maker of semiconductors, rallied 2.8 percent to 3.89 euros, the best performance among the 30 DAX stocks.

Dialog, Kloeckner

Dialog Semiconductor Plc jumped 8.3 percent to 4.81 euros, extending a 6.2 percent advance Oct. 9. The German semiconductor maker that gained Samsung Electronics Co. as a customer this year raised its guidance for revenue to at least $200 million and profit margins of more than 10 percent in the current year.

Kloeckner & Co. SE climbed 4.2 percent to 18.32 euros after the German steel trader was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank AG.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG gained 1.5 percent to 8.17 euros. The broadcaster will “definitely” reach the company’s savings targets this year, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Ebeling told Euro am Sonntag in an interview.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG slumped 18 percent to 6.05 euros, ending four days of gains, after the company said it may post a 150 million-euro annual loss.

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