German Factory Orders Log Unexpected Growth

(RTTNews) - Germany's manufacturing new orders logged an unexpected rebound in December on aircraft purchases but excluding larger orders, demand declined from November suggesting the dire situation in the industrial sector.

Elsewhere, survey data from S&P Global showed another sharp contraction in the construction sector with sustained declines in activity, new orders and employment.

Factory orders registered a monthly expansion of 8.9 percent after remaining unchanged in November, figures from Destatis showed on Tuesday. Orders were forecast to fall 0.1 percent.

However, excluding major orders, new factory orders declined 2.2 percent from November. The sharp increase was due to the surge in demand for aircraft.

In the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector, orders posted a remarkable 110.9 percent increase.

There were also sharp increases in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and electrical equipment. But new orders in the automotive industry declined 14.7 percent.

Data showed that orders from domestic and foreign markets surged 9.4 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.

Orders from the euro area posted a sharp increase of 34.5 percent. By contrast, demand from the rest of the world plunged 7.5 percent.

Among major sectors, orders in the capital goods sector climbed 10.9 percent and that in the intermediate goods sector gained 8.3 percent.

On the other hand, a drop of 1.3 percent was registered in the consumer goods sector.

On a yearly basis, factory orders advanced 2.7 percent, in contrast to the 4.7 percent decline a month ago.

In 2023 as a whole, industrial orders decreased 5.9 percent with orders for intermediate goods posting a sharper decline than new bookings for capital goods.

In December, manufacturing turnover slid 0.1 percent following a 0.7 percent drop in November. Year-on-year, turnover was down 3.1 percent.

The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 36.3 in January from 37.0 in December, survey data showed. The latest score was one of the lowest in the series history and well below the neutral 50.0 mark.

Among the three broad categories, housing activity remained the worst performer and there was another deeper downturn in commercial building works.

Meanwhile, the civil engineering activity declined at the slowest rate in four months.