German factory orders speed past forecasts in March

German factory orders grew at a brisk clip in March as strong demand from euro area countries offset domestic weakness, but economists spied waning momentum in the data.

Total orders grew by 1.0% month-on-month according to the Ministry of Finance, which was ahead of economists' forecasts for a rise of 0.8%.

In March, orders rose 3.5%.

New orders from within the euro area increased by 6.8% on the month whereas those from outside the single currency bloc were up by 3.5%.

Domestic orders on the other hand shrank by 3.8% versus February, albeit after a sharp 7.9% gain in the month before.

Orders for capital and consumer goods were strongest, offset by weakness in intermediate goods.

Versus the year-ago month, factory orders were 2.4% higher (consensus: 2.1%).

" A good headline, but momentum is waning at the margin. [...] The revised data suggest that new orders fell 1% quarter-on-quarter in Q1, following a 4.2% jump in Q4. This points to downside risks for industrial output in Q2, and mean-reversion from the almost 2% quarterly rise in Q1," said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.