German Stocks Advance for Second Day; MAN, Deutsche Bank Gain

By Julie Cruz

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks advanced for a second day as an unexpected increase in exports in Europe’s largest economy countered a fourth day of losses in SAP AG.

MAN SE, Europe’s third-biggest truckmaker, advanced 1.3 percent as UBS AG recommended the shares. Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG followed financial stocks higher. SAP tumbled 1.6 percent, the worst performance in the DAX Index.

The DAX Index increased 0.5 percent to 5,511.59 as of 10:35 a.m. in Frankfurt, having lost as much as 0.4 percent earlier. The gauge fell 5.9 percent in January, the first monthly drop since October, amid concern governments and central banks will withdraw stimulus measures and speculation Greece will struggle to tame its deficit. The broader HDAX Index added 0.5 percent today.

Exports unexpectedly jumped in December, notching their fourth successive monthly gain, as the global recovery bolstered demand for goods. Sales abroad, adjusted for working days and seasonal changes, increased 3 percent from November, when they gained 1.1 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists had forecast a 0.1 percent decline, the median of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Separately, the inflation rate in Germany held steady in January as clothes prices fell and rising joblessness damped demand.

MAN added 1.3 percent to 50.38 euros. The company was added to UBS’s “European key calls” list.

Deutsche Bank Gains

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, rose 2 percent to 43.95 euros, snapping four days of losses. Commerzbank climbed 3.3 percent to 5.703 euros. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Banks Index increased as much as 1.2 percent today, the best performance among 19 industry groups in Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.

Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world’s biggest provider of kidney analysis, added 1 percent to 36.73 euros. The shares were rated “buy” in new coverage at Jefferies Group Inc.

Aurubis AG advanced 2.3 percent to 30.61 euros. Europe’s largest copper refiner was raised to “buy” from “sell” at DZ Bank AG. “We anticipate good quarterly figures, we even consider a positive earnings surprise to be possible, and expect that on presentation of the report Aurubis business prospects will look more optimistic,” the report read.

Douglas Holding AG jumped 3.4 percent to 33.19 euros. The company said the outlook for 2010 sales and earnings is unchanged as revenue is expected to grow as much as 2 percent and pretax profit is forecast to come in at 120 million euros to 130 million euros.

Centrotherm Photovoltaics AG surged 4.8 percent to 38 euros, the first advance this month. The German maker of equipment to produce solar silicon and modules had its share rating raised to “buy” from “hold” at Citigroup Inc.

SAP, the world’s largest maker of business-management software, declined 1.6 percent to 32.05 euros. Chief Executive Officer Leo Apotheker, who resigned unexpectedly this week after the board decided not to renew his contract, told employees that he did what was best for the company during a “brutal economic crisis.”

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