Manufacturing orders in Germany fell for the second time in three months in February as demand for goods abroad weakened. Orders declined by 0.6pc in February from January, according to the Economy and Labour Ministry, although the decline was less than the 1.0pc slump expected. This is the second report in as many days adding to the evidence that Germnany; the eurozone's largest economy, will struggle this year. "It just hammers home the anaemic state of the German economy," said Rossa White about this week's data.
Foreign orders dropped by 3.7pc in February from the previous month, January, while domestic orders rose 2.1pc. On a year-on-year basis, foreign orders were up 4.5pc and domestic orders were up 4.1pc. On a two-monthly basis, orders rose 1.6pc in January/February compared to November/December and were up 2.8pc from the same period a year earlier. Foreign orders rose 2.5pc in January/February compared to November/December and domestic orders rose 1.0pc. //www.fxcentre.com