Germany's factory orders rebounded in February on domestic demand amid flat foreign orders, data published by Destatis showed Thursday.
Factory orders increased 3.4 percent month-on-month in February. Nonetheless, the pace of growth in February was weaker than the expected 4 percent.
January's decline was revised to 6.8 percent, the biggest fall since January 2009, from -7.4 percent.
On a yearly basis, manufacturing orders climbed 4.6 percent in February, faster than the 3.9 percent expansion economists had forecast.
Excluding major orders, factory orders grew 2.2 percent from January.
Domestic orders surged 8.1 percent, while foreign orders remained flat. New orders from the euro area declined 2.4 percent on the previous month, while those from other countries gained 1.6 percent.
Demand for intermediate goods advanced 8.5 percent and that for capital goods climbed 0.3 percent on the previous month. Orders for consumer goods grew 2.7 percent.
German order books seem to be extremely moody, reacting sensitively to seasonal and weather moods, Carsten Brzeski, an ING Bank economist, said.
Looking through this high volatility, the trend for order books is slightly positive, though still not as positive and strong as current confidence indicators are suggesting, the economist added.
Further, data showed that manufacturing turnover rose 1.3 percent in February from the previous month. January's growth was revised down to 2.1 percent from 3.7 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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