German industry order books enjoy September boost

Industrial orders in Europe’s largest economy Germany swelled in September, official data showed yesterday, in a bright spot among forward-looking data weighed down by trade wars.

New contracts increased 1.3 per cent month-on-month, federal statistics authority Destatis said in seasonally-adjusted data, beating analysts’ forecasts of zero expansion.

Counting out the effect of large orders for items like aircraft, which can distort underlying trends, the increase was even sharper, at 1.5 per cent.

“Over the full third quarter, there was a reduction in order intake of one per cent,” the economy ministry said in a statement.

Nevertheless, September’s rise “points to a rather favourable starting position for the final quarter” of 2019, the ministry added, pointing also to brightening business confidence indicators.

Surveys of optimism among investors and business leaders had darkened as trade conflicts between the US, Europe and China weighed on expectations, but hints of a truce have lifted spirits in recent weeks.

Looking in more detail at the orders data, orders from Germany’s eurozone neighbourhood fell back, while domestic contracts and business from the rest of the world expanded.

 

German industry order books enjoy September boost

Industrial orders in Europes largest economy Germany swelled in September, official data showed yesterday, in a bright spot among forward-looking data weighed down by trade wars. New contracts increased 1.3 per cent month-on-month, federal statistics authority Destatis said in seasonally-adjusted data, beating analysts forecasts of zero expansion. Counting out the effect of large orders for items like aircraft, which can distort underlying trends, the increase was even sharper, at 1.5 per cent. Over the full third quarter, there was a reduction in order intake of one per cent, the economy ministry said in a statement. Nevertheless, Septembers rise points to a rather favourable starting position for the final quarter of 2019, the ministry added, pointing also to brightening business confidence indicators. Surveys of optimism among investors and business leaders had darkened as trade conflicts between the US, Europe and China weighed on expectations, but hints of a truce have lifted spirits in recent weeks. Looking in more detail at the orders data, orders from Germanys eurozone neighbourhood fell back, while domestic contracts and business from the rest of the world expanded.