German Factory Orders Log Bigger-Than-Expected Fall

(RTTNews) - Germany's factory orders declined more than expected in May on falling demand from both the domestic market and other euro area economies, official data revealed on Friday. Factory orders decreased 1.4 percent from a month ago, Destatis reported. Orders were expected to drop 0.2 percent after an upwardly revised 1.6 percent rise in April. Orders declined for the first time in four months.

Excluding large-scale orders, manufacturing orders were 3.1 percent lower than in the previous month.

Commerzbank Senior Economist Ralph Solveen said the decline in order intake does not necessarily contradict expectations that the German economy will pick up in the course of the year.

However, together with weak industrial sales figures, it points to another subdued second quarter and supports the assessment that the upcoming recovery will be only moderate, the economist added.

Foreign orders advanced 2.9 percent, while domestic orders plunged 7.8 percent, Destatis said. Within foreign orders, demand from the euro area slid 6.5 percent. On the other hand, orders from outside the currency bloc surged 9.0 percent.

New orders for capital goods declined 0.9 percent and that for intermediate goods slid 3.4 percent. By contrast, new orders for consumer goods advanced 3.1 percent. On a yearly basis, factory orders logged an increase of 5.3 percent in May but slower than the 5.8 percent increase seen in April.

Further, data showed that turnover in manufacturing decreased 1.9 percent, following a 1.4 percent drop in April.