German factory orders unexpectedly slump in October

German factory orders unexpectedly slumped in October, according to figures released on Wednesday by Destatis.

Orders fell by 3.7% on the month following an upwardly-revised 0.7% increase in September, coming in weaker than expectations for a 0.2% jump.

Destatis said much of the decline was due to the performance of the manufacture of machinery and equipment sector, where new orders tumbled 13.5%.

By contrast, there was a 20.2% rise in new orders in the manufacture of other transport equipment such as aircraft, ships, trains, etc. This was thanks to large-scale orders received in this sector.

The data showed that excluding major orders - single orders worth more than €50m - factory orders rose 0.7% on the month in October.