German industrial new orders dropped in October. On a sequential basis, industrial new orders fell 0.4 percent, as compared to the expectations of a rise of 0.4 percent. Excluding the always very volatile orders for “other transport equipment”, the result is even a minus of 2.9 percent.
The softness was especially pronounced for domestic orders, which dropped 3.2 percent. The trend is thus evidently indicating towards downwards again. Foreign orders appear better, recording a rise of 1.5 percent. Orders from the non-euro area dropped 4.1 percent.
Nevertheless, there is still a slight hoper. The downward trend in order intake has levelled off markedly in recent months. But an upward turn is hardly to be expected in the near future, said Commerzbank in a research report. The purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing and the corresponding component of the Ifo business climate index remain at a very low levels in spite of slight rises in October/November.
“As a result, manufacturing is likely to slow down the German economy in the coming months, so that real GDP will probably only stagnate in Q4 after the slight increase in Q3”, added Commerzbank.
