Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's benchmark stock index slid to its lowest this year, paced by Infineon Technologies AG. Europe's second-largest chipmaker forecast that earnings and sales will decline this quarter.

HVB Group, Germany's No. 2 bank by assets, fell on concern the company may be forced to raise money from shareholders to preserve its credit rating.

The DAX lost 11.81, or 0.3 percent, to 4201.89, its lowest since Dec. 10 and its fourth straight decline. Twice as many stocks fell as rose. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies slid 0.3 percent to 2155.98. DAX March futures rose less than 0.1 percent to 4214.5 as of 5:51 p.m. in Frankfurt.

Technology stocks were the worst performers among the 18 industry groups on Germany's Prime All Share Performance Index. The sub-index dropped 2.3 percent, outpacing a 0.8 percent decline on the broader measure.

Infineon dropped 18 cents, or 2.5 percent, to 7 euros. The company said pressure to reduce prices and lower demand as customers cut inventory forecasts will hurt earnings and sales this quarter.

Technology stocks in Germany also slid as Korea's LG.Philips LCD Co., the world's No. 2 maker of liquid crystal displays used in monitors and televisions, said fourth-quarter profit plunged 94 percent as panel prices fell.

LG.Philips' report ``penetrates through here to Germany,'' said Michael Scholz, a Dusseldorf-based trader at WestLB AG.

Epcos AG, a maker of electronic components, dropped 10 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 9.42 euros. CE Consumer Electronic AG, which sells computer chips to manufacturers after buying them from producers, slid 2 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 87 cents.

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

Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1 GY), the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, slid 63 cents, or 1.4 percent, to 45.32 euros. The company is close to making a second unsolicited bid for London Stock Exchange Plc, the Observer reported yesterday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Deutsche Boerse will pledge to cut the cost of trading shares by at least 10 percent as part of its proposal. It didn't say where it obtained the information.

Deutsche Post AG (DPW GY), Europe's biggest postal company, dropped 10 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 16.14 euros. Deutsche Post agreed to buy parts of KarstadtQuelle AG's department-store shipping and mail-order delivery businesses for more than 200 million euros ($261.7 million), the companies said in a joint statement. Deutsche Post's DHL Solutions unit will take over the businesses as of April 1.

Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE GY), Europe's largest phone company, dropped 21 cents, or 1.3 percent, to 16.03 euros. It was among five European telephone companies that had their ratings cut by analysts at Bear, Stearns & Co.

EM.TV AG (EV4 GY), a media company that owns the rights for merchandising World Cup soccer games in 2006, rose 24 cents, or 6.5 percent, to 3.96 euros. Benjamin Kohnke, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, rated the company ``buy'' in new coverage, with a share-price forecast of 4.90 euros.

HeidelbergCement AG (HEI GY), the world's fourth-largest cement maker, fell 1.11 euros, or 2.2 percent, to 49.39 euros. The company named 46-year-old Bernd Scheifele as chief executive officer on Jan. 22, succeeding Hans Bauer, who is stepping down three years before the end of his contract.

HVB Group (HVM GY), Germany's second-largest bank by assets, declined 54 cents, or 3 percent, to 17.23 euros. The company may be forced to raise money from shareholders to preserve its credit rating after taking a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) writedown on real-estate assets.

HVB's writedown will lead to a 2004 loss and cut the company's core capital ratio, a measure of solvency, to 6 percent from 7.2 percent in the first nine months of last year, the company said on Jan. 21. Standard & Poor's put HVB's credit ratings on watch for a possible downgrade, while Fitch Ratings cut its rating one level.

Separately, Marc Rubinstein, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, cut the bank's recommendation to ``neutral'' from ``outperform''.

Loewe AG (LOE GY), a television maker whose biggest shareholder is Sharp Corp., rose 18 cents, or 2.8 percent, to 6.66 euros after the company said it expects to break even at an operating level in 2005.

Puma AG (PUM GY), the sporting-goods maker known for its leaping-cat logo, rose 8.73 euros, or 4.8 percent, to 190.96 euros. Philipp Zieschang, an analyst at UBS AG, raised Puma's recommendation to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' and increased the price target to 17.10 euros from 16.40 euros.

Salzgitter AG (SZG GY), Germany's No. 2 steelmaker, rose 70 cents, or 4.3 percent, to 16.85 euros, extending Friday's 6.4 percent advance. Groupe Vallourec SA said Friday it would buy 45 percent of Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes from Salzgitter.

``Salzgitter's money was invested in a very ineffective way,'' said Patrick Hummel, an analyst at Landesbank Baden- Wuerttemberg, who has a ``buy'' rating on the Salzgitter. ``Investors are still cheering the fact they freed the funds.''

Singulus Technologies AG (SNG GY), a manufacturer of machines used to produce compact discs and DVDs, slid 63 cents, or 4.2 percent, to 14.39 euros. Analysts at WestLB AG cut the stock to ``neutral'' from ``outperform.''

ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA GY), Germany's largest steelmaker, dropped 54 cents, or 3.2 percent, to 16.38 euros. The shares are trading for the first day without the right to the latest dividend of 60 cents a share.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sheenagh Archey in Frankfurt at sarchey@bloomberg.net Chris Fournier in Frankfurt at Cfournier3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 24, 2005 12:13 EST