German Stocks Decline; Siemens, Thyssenkrupp, Deutsche Bank Shares Retreat

German stocks declined for a fifth day after the Japanese economy grew at a slower than estimated pace, increasing concern about a global economic slowdown.

Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens AG and Thyssenkrupp AG paced the retreat on the benchmark DAX Index. Hochtief AG jumped the most since May as Germany’s largest construction company predicted its order book will grow this year, buoyed by expansion overseas and gains in the Australian and U.S. dollars.

The DAX lost 0.2 percent at 6,096.42 at 2:30 p.m. in Frankfurt, having swung between gains and losses at least five times today. The gauge has gained 66 percent since March 2009 as governments and central banks worldwide maintained record low interest rates and committed more than $12 trillion to support the economy. The broader HDAX Index was little changed, slipping less than 0.1 percent to 3,081.97 today.

Gross domestic product in Japan rose an annualized 0.4 percent in the second quarter, the Cabinet Office said, slipping behind China to become the world’s third-largest economy. The median estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for growth of 2.3 percent.

Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, lost 1 percent to 74.22 euros. ThyssenKrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, declined 1.3 percent to 22.84 euros.

Banks Decline

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, dropped 1.3 percent to 52.24 euros. European banking shares lost as much as 1.3 percent today, the worst performing of 19 industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Hochtief soared 4.9 percent to 52.07 euros. The company’s inflow of new work will exceed 2009 levels, the Essen-based company said in a statement on its website today. Exchange rate moves inflated first-half orders by 6 billion euros ($7.7 billion). Hochtief forecast similar sales to last year, with pretax profit increasing “slightly.”

“We have kept the flow of work coming,” Chief Executive Officer Herbert Luetkestratkoetter said in the statement. Merck KGaA rose 1.8 percent to 69 euros as JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the drugmaker to “neutral” from “underweight.”

GfK SE increased 3.5 percent to 28.99 euros after the market research group said second-quarter net income rose to 22 million euros from 14.4 million euros, as sales increased.