April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark stock index fell the most in eight months, paced by technology-related companies including Siemens AG and Infineon AG. Shares of TUI AG and Linde AG also declined.

The DAX slid 96.03, or 2.2 percent, to 4216.22 as of 4:12 p.m. in Frankfurt, heading for its biggest two-day drop since March 2004 and its sharpest one-day loss since August 6. The index has dropped five times in the last six sessions. All 30 shares fell today.

DAX June futures slipped 1.5 percent to 4235.5. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies lost 2.2 percent.

Siemens, the world's fourth-largest mobile-phone maker, dropped 1.75 euros, or 2.9 percent, to 58.97 euros.

``There's concern that we've reached the beginning of the end of an upswing'' in the technology industry, said Knut Woller, an analyst at Munich-based HVB Group, who rates shares of SAP ``outperform.'' ``Confidence took a hit'' after International Business Machines Corp. last week reported an unexpected profit shortfall, he said.

Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-largest chipmaker, fell 13 cents, or 1.9 percent, to 6.87 euros. SAP, the world's largest maker of business-management software, dropped 2.63 euros, or 2.3 percent, to 113.27 euros.

Shares of TUI, Europe's largest travel company, dropped 94 cents, or 4.6 percent, to 19.33 euros, the worst-performing stock on the DAX. Altana AG, Germany's fifth-biggest drugmaker, declined 1.28 euros, or 2.4 percent, to 52.30 euros.

The following stocks are making gains or losses. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company names.

Depfa Bank Plc (DEP GGY), Europe's second-largest provider of public finance, added 29 cents, or 2.5 percent, to 11.84 euros. Depfa Bank said it abandoned the sale of its German unit Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG after failing to find a buyer for more than a year.

Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1 GY), Europe's biggest stock exchange by market value, dropped 1.25 euros, or 2 percent, to 60.07 euros. Chief Executive Officer Werner Seifert said demands by TCI Fund Management for the ouster of supervisory board members including Chairman Rolf Breuer are damaging to the company and shareholders.

Hornbach Holding AG (HBH3 GY), Germany's fourth-largest home- improvement retailer, dropped 75 cents, or 1 percent, to 71.50 euros. Holger Schwesig, an analyst at DZ Bank AG, downgraded his rating on the shares to ``sell'' from ``buy.''

IWKA AG (IWK GY) dropped 1.18 euros, or 6 percent, to 18.52 euros. The maker of automation and packaging equipment expects 2005 operating profit to fall from its year-earlier level, amid fewer orders from the automotive industry.

Separately, Ulrich Scholz, an analyst at Bank Sal Oppenheim Jr & Cie., cut IWKA's share recommendation to ``reduce'' from ``neutral.''

Freenet.de AG (FRN GY), an Internet service provider, fell 1.24 euros, or 6.3 percent, to 18.47 euros. United Internet AG (UTDI GY), Germany's second-largest provider of high-speed Web access, slipped 1.02 euros, or 4.6 percent, to 21.38 euros.

Congster GmbH, a division of T-Online International AG that started selling Internet services in December, slashed its tariff for high-speed Web access by more than half, the company said on its Web site. Congster's price cut was earlier reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Solarworld AG (SWV GY) added 3.85 euros, or 3.5 percent, to 96.43 euros. The solar-cell maker said it plans to produce silicon for solar cells jointly with Degussa AG. The companies have started test runs to make the material at their factory in Rheinfelden. The plant will be able to produce 800 tons of silicon a year from 2007, Solarworld said.

Shares of Degussa AG (DGX GY), the world's biggest maker of specialty chemicals, declined 1.58 euros, or 4.6 percent, to 32.62 euros.

Solon AG (SOO1 GY), a solar-cell maker, rose 1.37 euros, or 5.7 percent, to 25.49 euros. Solon will use the cells from SunPower Corp., a unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp., in an electricity generation system used in power plants, Solon said in a statement to the Frankfurt stock-exchange today.

Thiel Logistik AG (TGH GY) rose 18 cents, or 5.1 percent, to 3.70 euros. The logistics company controlled by German billionaire Stefan Quandt said Chief Executive Officer Klaus Eierhoff will quit. The shares fell the most in 2 1/2 years on April 8 after the company cut its 2005 profit forecast.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Fournier in Frankfurt at Cfournier3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 18, 2005 10:21 EDT