German Stocks Rise for Second Day This Week, ThyssenKrupp Gains

By Julie Cruz

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks climbed for a second day this week, led by steelmakers, as Federal Reserve officials increased their forecast for U.S. economic growth.

The benchmark DAX Index added 0.6 percent to 5,804.84 as of 9:39 a.m. in Frankfurt, erasing yesterday’s drop. The measure has rallied 50 percent since March 6 as companies posted better-than-estimated earnings and investors speculated the global recession is easing. The broader HDAX Index also gained 0.6 percent today.

In the U.S., Fed policy makers raised their forecast for 2010 economic growth, to a range of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent from 2.1 percent to 3.3 percent. Fed governors and regional- bank presidents cut their prediction for unemployment to a rate of 9.3 percent to 9.7 percent in next year’s fourth quarter, from the June projection of 9.5 percent to 9.8 percent, according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Nov. 3-4 meeting released yesterday.

ThyssenKrupp AG and Salzgitter AG, the country’s largest steelmakers, advanced 1 percent to 25.15 euros and 1.5 percent to 66.15 euros, respectively. European basic-resource shares rose as much as 2.1 percent today, the best performance among 19 industry groups in Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.

Commerzbank AG, the country’s second-biggest bank, gained 0.8 percent to 6.49 euros. Commerzbank reaffirmed its revenue and earnings targets under “Roadmap 2012.” The lender said it sees 2012 gross revenue at “just below” 14 billion euros, and loan loss provisions at about 2 billion euros.

Daimler, Siemens

Daimler AG, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury cars, increased 1.8 percent to 36.08 euros. Rainer Schmueckle, chief operating officer of Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz division, will stay with the company as General Motors Co. failed to recruit him as head of its Opel unit, Handelsblatt reported.

Separately, Aabar Investments PJSC, the biggest shareholder in German luxury carmaker Daimler, borrowed $1.63 billion from a group of local and foreign banks.

Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering company, added 1 percent to 66.70 euros. Areva SA’s planned sale of its power- grid equipment division drew opposition from the unit’s senior managers, who said the disposal would end up benefiting rivals Siemens and ABB Ltd.

3U Holding AG rose 2.9 percent to 70 cents as the company said nine-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 26 percent to 10.7 million euros. Sales fell, the company said.

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