German factory orders surge in December
Factory orders in Germany soared past forecasts at the end of 2017, amid a surge in demand for capital goods from euro area clients.
Nevertheless, some analysts cautioned that December's robust print was largely the result of positive 'base effects' in the data.
Total orders jumped by 3.8% last month when compared with November (consensus: 0.8%), according to the German Ministry of Finance, as orders from abroad climbed 5.9%, alongside an increase of 0.7% in domestic orders.
Driving gains in the former was an 11.2% jump in new orders from other countries within the single currency area, with those for capital goods surging by 18.5%.
By market segments, total orders for intermediate goods rise by 2.4%, those for capital goods by 5.7% and those for consumer goods by 5.1%.
Commenting on the data, Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "A great finish to 2017 [...] in case anyone cares. [...] A smaller jump than we expected but still way above expectations. The consensus “forgot” to factor in base effects from last year, which required a big month-to-month headline to maintain robust year-over-year growth in line with the surveys. The bad news is that the January report likely will be a poor one as the December jump mean reverts."