Germany factory orders stagnated unexpectedly in February even though US importers brought forward imports to beat the impending tariffs.
New orders in the manufacturing sector remained unchanged in February, reversing a 5.5 percent drop in January, Destatis reported Friday. Orders were forecast to grow 3.4 percent.
Excluding large orders, new orders were 0.2 percent lower than in the previous month.
Foreign orders increased 0.8 percent driven by higher demand from economies outside euro area.
Orders from the euro area fell 3.0 percent, while demand from outside the eurozone rose 3.4 percent. Meanwhile, domestic orders decreased 1.2 percent.
Incoming orders for capital goods gained 1.5 percent from the previous month. In contrast, incoming orders for intermediate goods slid 1.3 percent and that for consumer goods dropped 5.2 percent.
The declines in incoming orders in the metal manufacturing sector, the electrical equipment sector and the pharmaceutical industry had a negative impact on the overall result.
In contrast, increases in incoming orders in mechanical engineering, other transport equipment and the automotive industry had a positive impact on the overall orders.
Further, data showed that real sales in the manufacturing sector moved up 0.2 percent in February, reversing a decline of 0.9 percent in January. Year-on-year, manufacturing sales showed a decline of 2.9 percent.
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January 09, 2026 15:02 ET U.S. external trade data and labor market figures were in focus this week as the news flow gained momentum in the new year. In Europe, inflation data for the euro area was the highlight. The single-currency bloc expanded to 21 countries this year with Bulgaria adopting the currency on January 1. News flow in Asia was dominated by the survey data on the Chinese services industry.