FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Siemens shares were among the biggest losers in Germany's leading DAX index on Tuesday, falling 1.19 percent to 158.86 euros. Analyst William Mackie of investment house Kepler downgraded the recently strong shares from "buy" to "hold", with an unchanged target price of 167 euros.

The recent setback from the record high of a good 171 euros continued with the price losses. Siemens shares have now reached the 23.6 percent retracement of the price rally from the end of October to the beginning of January, which has been widely observed by chart technicians. It remains to be seen whether this potential support will hold.

The shares had gained around 43% in value from their October low to the beginning of January, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Industrial Goods & Services sector index had risen by up to around 24% during this period. During this phase, the Dax rose by just under 16 percent.

It was only last week that analysts at Bank of America gave up their buy recommendation for Siemens shares. After the recent above-average share price performance compared to the European capital goods sector, it was time to take a breath, the experts wrote./mis/ajx/nas