BLBG:German Stocks Rise for Second Day After Euro-Area Data
German stocks advanced for a second day after a report showed euro-area industrial output increased in December.
Wirecard AG jumped to a two-month high after Berenberg Bank upgraded its recommendation for the stock.
The DAX added 0.5 percent to 7,695.84 at 12:37 p.m. in Frankfurt. The benchmark gauge has risen 1.1 percent so far this year, the second-worst performance among the 24 developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. The broader HDAX Index climbed 0.6 percent today.
The number of shares changing hands in companies listed on the DAX was 38 percent lower than the average of the past 30 days, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Factory production in the 17-nation euro currency bloc rose 0.7 percent in December from the previous month, when it declined a revised 0.7 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. Economists had forecast a gain of 0.2 percent, according to the median of 41 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
In the U.S., President Barack Obama said he would pursue a trade agreement with the EU to expand the world’s largest economic relationship, while at the same time finishing discussions for a Pacific-region accord.
Sales at U.S. retailers probably grew in January as an improving job market helped consumers overcome higher payroll taxes, economists said before a report today. The projected 0.1 percent rise would follow a 0.5 percent December increase, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
Wirecard, a provider of Internet-payment and processing services, gained 3 percent to 19.12 euros as Berenberg Bank upgraded the stock to buy from hold.
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG jumped 3.4 percent to 25.22 euros, the highest price in 12 years, after Deutsche Bank AG said it expects the maker of products for eye examinations and surgeries to report sound first-quarter results and confirm medium-term targets tomorrow.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt at jmorgan157@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
