UPDATE 2-Sal. Oppenheim to fully exit Arcandor soon -source

* Sal. Oppenheim holding cuts stake to 9.7 pct from 24.9 pct

* To sell remaining stake within weeks-source

* Schickedanz continues to hold 21.5 pct

* Arcandor shares fall 0.9 pct

(Recasts with comments from source)

By Eva Kuehnen and Alexander Huebner

FRANKFURT, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Stricken private bank Sal. Oppenheim plans to fully exit its investment in insolvent German retailer Arcandor (AROG.DE) within the next few weeks, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sal. Oppenheim, which last year posted its first post-war loss and is now in the process of selling parts of its business, cut its stake in Arcandor to 9.69 percent from 24.9 percent as of Oct. 9, Arcandor said earlier on Tuesday.

The financial source said the shares had been sold in the market in small tranches.

It could be expected that Sal. Oppenheim would reduce its stake further toward zero in the near term and before the end of the year, the source added.

Sal. Oppenheim had acquired its stake about a year ago by injecting about 59 million euros ($87.46 million) into the ailing retailer. The funds were not enough to save Arcandor.

It filed for insolvency in early June after the German government rejected its calls for state aid, saying its owners including Madeleine Schickedanz and Sal. Oppenheim had not pitched in enough money to mount a joint rescue. [ID:nL9454449]

A week after the filing, private bank Sal. Oppenheim sold its direct 3.7 percent stake, while Sal. Oppenheim's industry holdings company, an investment vehicle set up by Sal. Oppenheim to manage some of its investments, kept its 24.9 percent stake. [ID:nLH815292]

Schickedanz still holds a 21.5 percent stake in Arcandor.

Arcandor shares fell 0.9 percent to 0.226 euros by 1450 GMT. (Editing by Andrew Macdonald) ($1=.6746 EURO)