Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks rose for the fifth day, sending the benchmark DAX Index to the highest in more than three years. Infineon Technologies AG and Deutsche Bank AG advanced.

The DAX climbed 0.3 percent to 5189.06 as of 12:46 p.m. in Frankfurt, the highest since April 2002. Nineteen stocks gained and 11 fell. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies added 0.2 percent.

Infineon, Europe's largest chipmaker, advanced 9 cents, or 1.2 percent, to 7.87 euros.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, climbed 94 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 83.55 euros.

E.ON AG, Europe's second-largest publicly traded power company, rose 47 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 81.05 euros. Deutsche Bank raised its share-price forecast to 87 euros from 83.5 euros after E.ON pulled an 11.3 billion-pound ($19 billion) takeover bid for the U.K.'s Scottish Power Plc.

Siemens AG, Germany's biggest engineering company, added 40 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 65.50 euros. Deutsche Bank said the shares may reach as much as 88 euros if Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld sells the telephone equipment business and achieves profitability forecasts.

The following stocks gained or fell in Germany. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Beiersdorf AG (BEI GY), the maker of Nivea skin creams, added 3.25 euros, or 3.4 percent, to 99. WestLB raised its recommendation on the shares to ``outperform'' from ``neutral.''

Combots AG (WE2 GY), an Internet communications company formerly known as Web.de, rose 24 cents, or 2.6 percent, to 9.50 euros. The company plans to buy back as many as 3.8 million of its own stock, or about 10 percent of the total outstanding, to boost earnings per share.

Merck KGaA (MRK GY), Germany's fourth-largest drugmaker, slid 3.33 euros, or 4.5 percent, to 70.27 euros. The company said yesterday after the markets closed that it replaced Chief Executive Officer Bernhard Scheuble with immediate effect.

Separately, Goldman, Sachs & Co. cut its recommendation on the stock to ``in-line'' from ``outperform'' following the announcement.

Sixt AG (SIX2 GY), Germany's biggest car-rental company, climbed 33 cents, or 1.5 percent, to 21.78 euros. Third-quarter pretax profit advanced to 26.7 million euros ($31.4 million) from 23.6 million euros a year earlier as business customers and tourists hired more vehicles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kotaro Miyata in London at kmiyata2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 23, 2005 06:48 EST