German Stocks Advance, Led by MAN, Daimler, Siemens; TUI Jumps

German stocks advanced on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to prevent a credit crunch from curbing economic growth.

``That the Fed will cut interest rates is almost common sense in the market,'' said Wolfgang Matejka, who oversees $3.3 billion as chief investment officer at Vienna-based Meinl Bank AG. ``We've seen most of the correction already. There's no reason for more panic selling.''

MAN AG, DaimlerChrysler AG and Siemens AG led advances by companies more sensitive to economic swings. TUI AG gained after the Financial Times reported Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen was behind Geveran Trading Co. Ltd, which raised its stake in Europe's largest travel company.

The benchmark DAX Index rose 75.73, or 1 percent, to 7,500.48. DAX futures expiring in September climbed 84, or 1.1 percent, to 7,524 at 5:49 p.m. in Frankfurt. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies added 1.3 percent.

TUI rallied 89 cents, or 5.2 percent, to 18.14 euros. Fredriksen, chief executive officer of Frontline Ltd., the world's largest tanker group, wants to force a break up of TUI and buy its shipping assets, the FT said in the Alphaville section of its online edition.

At Frontline, nobody was immediately available for a statement. Limassol, Cyprus-based Geveran told the company that it crossed the threshold of 3 percent of the voting rights on Aug. 10, TUI said yesterday.

MAN, Europe's third-largest truckmaker, gained 3.73 euros, or 4 percent, to 98.23 euros.

DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, advanced 2.19 euros, or 3.6 percent, to 62.81 euros.

Excess Cash

The company may announce details of how it will use excess cash as soon as Aug. 29, when it releases second-quarter earnings, Handelsblatt reported, citing unidentified people at the company.

Management at the Stuttgart, Germany-based company plans to outline how shareholders can benefit from its cash position in the coming weeks, the Dusseldorf, Germany-based newspaper said.

Silke Walters, a DaimlerChrysler spokeswoman, declined when contacted by phone to comment on the Handelsblatt report, reiterating a company statement earlier this month that the carmaker will decide by February how to use any extra cash generated by the disposal of the Chrysler division.

Siemens, the region's largest engineering company, gained 1.79 euros, or 2 percent, to 90.84 euros.

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

Delticom AG (DEX GY) increased 3.72 euros, or 6.6 percent, to 60.22 euros. The dealer of tires over the Internet said second-quarter profit rose 55 percent to 3.4 million euros ($4.3 million) on higher sales outside Germany.

European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD GY) added 46 cents, or 2.2 percent, to 21.06 euros. The Airbus parent, Thales SA and Italy's Finmeccanica SpA reached an agreement in principle on sharing responsibilities in the European Union's Galileo satellite project, French daily Les Echos reported, citing an unidentified person.

The planned Galileo road, rail, ship and air-traffic control network still requires 2.4 billion euros of public funding, Les Echos said.

Franconofurt AG (FFM GY) advanced 1.10 euros, or 12 percent, to 10.25 euros. The real-estate broker said first-half profit rose more than fivefold to 5.2 million euros after the company sold shares in its FranconoRheinMain AG unit.

Freenet AG (FNT GY) rose 61 cents, or 3.7 percent, to 17.31 euros. Drillisch AG (DRI GY), a reseller of mobile-phone services, agreed to increase its stake in larger rival Freenet.

Drillisch agreed today to buy an 18.5 percent stake in Freenet from Vatas International BV, Drillisch said. The purchase would raise the company's stake in Freenet to 28.6 percent. Drillisch shares gained 84 cents, or 14 percent, to 6.88 euros.

Infineon Technologies AG (IFX GY) climbed 30 cents, or 2.8 percent, to 11.16 euros. Europe's second-biggest maker of semiconductors plans additional acquisitions, Handelsblatt said, citing Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Ziebart.

Separately, Siemens said it plans a joint venture with Infineon to develop and manufacture a type of semiconductor to reduce energy consumption in appliances.

Kloeckner & Co. AG (KCO GY) rose 2.88 euros, or 6.9 percent, to 44.67 euros. The steel trader said JPMorgan Asset Management Holdings Inc. raised its stake in the company to 5.05 percent.

JPMorgan Asset Management told Kloeckner it crossed the regulatory threshold of five percent August 15 and currently holds 2,348,044 voting rights, the Duisburg, Germany-based company said in a statement distributed by euro adhoc newswire today.

Investors of German companies are obliged to declare share purchases or sales that bring their holdings above or below certain thresholds.

Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NDA GY), the region's largest copper refiner, gained 1.58 euros, or 5.4 percent, to 31.09 euros. Cumerio NV (CMR BB) the copper producer that's the target of an agreed takeover by Norddeutsche Affinerie, raised its full- year outlook for profit from operations before interest and taxes after first-half profit beat analysts' estimates.

Norddeutsche Affinerie said today it holds more than 25 percent of Cumerio's shares and plans to complete a takeover of the company by the end of October.

Nordex AG (NDX1 GY), a German windmill maker, increased 2.44 euros, or 9.5 percent, to 28.13 euros. The shares rose for the second day after Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's biggest windmill maker, said second-quarter profit gained more than fivefold on increasing demand for alternatives to fossil fuel Aug. 21.

Pfleiderer AG (PFD4 GY) jumped 1.04 euros, or 6.3 percent, to 17.54 euros, the biggest gain in more than a year. The supplier of paneling for buildings announced plans to buy back as many 4.87 million shares by the end of this year.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (PSM GY) advanced 1.37 euros, or 6 percent, to 24.19 euros. The private broadcaster that recently bought SBS Broadcasting Group said second-quarter profit rose 4.5 percent, beating analyst estimates, as it cut costs.

Citigroup Inc. upgraded the stock to ``hold'' from ``sell.'

Solon AG fuer Solartechnik (SOO1 GY) added 3.92 euros, or 8.3 percent, to 50.96 euros. The solar-cell maker said second- quarter profit climbed 76 percent to 5.4 million euros as it sold more products outside its home market.

Full-year net income is expected to increase ``well over'' 30 percent from 14.4 million euros in 2006, the company said, and revenue may also rise by more than 30 percent from 346.4 million euros last year. Output will probably grow 31 percent to about 110 megawatts in 2007 in the period.

Xing AG (O1BC GY) retreated 3 euros, or 8.5 percent, to 32.20 euros. WestLB AG downgraded shares of the business networking Web site operator formerly known as Open Business Club AG to ``hold'' from ``add.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Andreas Hippin in Frankfurt at ahippin@bloomberg.net