German Factory Orders Unexpectedly Expand In July

(RTTNews) - Germany's factory orders grew unexpectedly in July largely due to the surge in demand for transport equipment, official data revealed Thursday.

Incoming new orders advanced 2.9 percent on a monthly basis in July following June's revised 4.6 percent expansion, Destatis reported. Orders were forecast to fall 1.6 percent.

Excluding large orders, new orders dropped 0.4 percent from June.

Orders for the "manufacture of other transport equipment" sector posted a sharp 86.5 percent increase and orders for the manufacture of electrical equipment surged 18.6 percent.

New orders in the capital goods and intermediate goods sector climbed 3.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively. By contrast, new orders in the consumer goods sector dropped 5.8 percent from a month ago.

New foreign orders grew 5.1 percent, with new orders from the euro area rising 5.9 percent and orders from the rest of the world by 4.6 percent. Meanwhile, domestic orders remained unchanged.

In the three months to July, new orders were up 1.7 percent than in the previous three months.

On a yearly basis, new orders climbed 3.7 percent, in contrast to the 11.2 percent increase in the prior month.

Further, data showed that manufacturing turnover dropped 2.3 percent on month in July following a 0.5 percent fall in June. Year-on-year, turnover was down 5.6 percent.

Elsewhere, Purchasing Managers' survey showed that the German construction sector mired in a steep downturn in August. The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 38.9 from 40.0 in the previous month. The score suggested the biggest contraction since May.