FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The weakness of Siemens Healthineers ' diagnostics division in the past fiscal quarter put pressure on the medical technology company's shares on Wednesday. The market described the half-year figures as mixed and criticized in particular the lowered full-year forecast for the Diagnostics unit.

The shares lost 6.1 percent to 53.10 euros in the barely changed Dax in the morning and were thus the index loser. The 21-day line, which signals the short-term trend, was breached on the downside. In contrast, the 90-day line for the medium-term trend, which runs at slightly above 51.50 euros, still provides support.

Analyst David Adlington of JPMorgan had already expected some weakness in the share price, especially since it has run strongly since an interim low in September. Since then, the share price has risen by a peak of 44 percent, and is currently still up by just under a third.

Overall, Adlington spoke of a strong second fiscal quarter for the core businesses and praised the "exceptional sales growth" in the imaging division and especially in the U.S. cancer specialist Varian, whose acquisition was completed just over two years ago. "The diagnostics division, on the other hand, disappointed again, including another forecast reduction," he noted.

Analyst James Vane-Tempest of Jefferies and Graham Doyle of Swiss bank UBS also said the quarterly figures were broadly solid. However, they were overshadowed by the disappointing diagnostics division and the lowered full-year target for that unit, Vane-Tempest also wrote.

Doyle also lacked comment on backlog growth. Combined with the weak business performance in Diagnostics and the announcement of impairment charges in Advanced Therapies, this was "not helpful" to the share price, he wrote./ck/nas/mis