German factory orders dip in February

German manufacturing orders dipped at the start of the year amid lower domestic demand.

Factory orders declined by 0.1% month-on-month in January, following a revised drop of 0.2% for the prior month, according to the Federal Office of Statistics.

Economists had been expecting a decline of 0.3%.

December's fall in orders had initially been pegged at 0.7%.

Domestic orders fell by 1.6% versus December while those from abroad increased by 1.0%.

Orders for capital goods registered an advance of 1.7% month-on-month, while those for consumer goods increased by 3.9%.

Intermediate goods orders on the other hand declined by 1.4%.

"The latest data indicate that, despite a decline in January’s headline number, economic activity from foreign markets, especially from within the eurozone, has held up well despite the financial-market turmoil at the beginning of the year. Activity from outside the eurozone dropped in January, which was the first decline after two consecutive increases in December and November of last year.

"Hence, given the volatility of the data, the recent new-orders release is not all bad news," said Dr. Thomas Strobel, economist at UniCredit Research.