Germany: Data offered a pleasant surprise - BBH

Research Team at BBH, suggests that the German news offered a pleasant surprise as factory orders surged 4.9% in October.  

Key Quotes

“It is the largest increase in more than two years.  The market was expected a little more than one-tenth of the actual increase.  Also, the September decline was halved to -0.3% from -0.6%.   The gains were broad based and lent support to the Bundesbank's optimism that growth will accelerate substantially in Q4.   Orders for investment goods rose 7.2%.  Export orders rose 3.9%, and this likely means that business investment increased in some of Germany's largest trading partners.  Domestic orders rose 6.3%.” 

“With consumer goods up to a modest 0.5%, it may not auger well for strong consumption-led growth.  Consistent with the theme, Markit reported that the retail PMI fell to 49.6 in November from 51.0 in October.  It is the third consecutive decline and the lowest reading since January.”