German Stocks Fluctuate; Deutsche Bank, RWE Drop as Merck, Hochtief Climb

German stocks fluctuated, after the benchmark DAX Index posted its biggest weekly decline in more than a month last week, and as a drop in Deutsche Bank AG offset a gain in Merck KGaA.

Deutsche Bank posted the second-largest decrease of the 30 members of the German benchmark index. Merck rose as JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stance on the shares. 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 was little changed, dropping 0.1 percent to 6,104.36 at 5:12 p.m. in Frankfurt, having swung between gains and losses at least 11 times today. The gauge has fallen 3.8 percent from this year’s high on August 9. The broader HDAX Index also retreated 0.1 percent to 3,079.63.

“The market is still nervous and optimism from the second- quarter earnings reports can quickly be diminished by other factors,” said Christian Falkner, an analyst at Alpha Wertpapierhandels AG in Frankfurt. “I don’t see one single event, but a combination of bad economic figures and the statements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England on economic growth last week.”

About $1.9 trillion has been wiped from the value of global equities since the Fed said Aug. 10 that the pace of economic recovery will probably be “more modest” than forecast. On Aug. 11, the Bank of England cut its forecast for the U.K. economy, signaling that it may need more stimulus.

Japanese Growth

Gross domestic product in Japan rose an annualized 0.4 percent in the second quarter, the Cabinet Office said, falling 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.

A separate report showed manufacturing in the New York region expanded less than forecast in August as orders and sales shrank for the first time in more than a year. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index rose to 7.1 this month from 5.1 in July. Economists forecast the measure would rise to 8, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

Another report showed builders in the U.S. unexpectedly turned pessimistic in August, a sign the expiration of a government tax credit is continuing to depress home building.

Deutsche Bank, RWE Slide

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s biggest bank, dropped 1.2 percent to 52.25 euros. European banking shares lost as much as 1.5 percent today, as the industry was among the worst performing in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

RWE AG, Germany’s second-biggest utility, slid 0.9 percent to 52.76 euros. German electricity for delivery in 2011 fell after coal costs slid to their lowest in 10 weeks, making power generation from the fossil fuel cheaper.

Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with the heads of E.ON AG and RWE as talks between government and industry on extending nuclear reactors’ operating lives near a deadline.

Merck climbed 2 percent to 69.16 euros as JPMorgan upgraded the drugmaker to “neutral” from “underweight.”

Hochtief soared 5 percent to 52.09 euros. The company’s inflow of 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 2.1 percent to 69.20 euros as JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the drugmaker to “neutral” from “underweight.”

GfK SE increased 2.5 percent to 28.70 euros after the market research group said second-quarter net income rose to 22 million euros from 14.4 million euros, as sales increased.