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Foreign demand powers German industrial orders

BERLIN: German industry booked a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent rise in orders in November from October as strong demand from abroad offset a slight drop in domestic orders, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

Foreign orders rose a hefty 3.8 percent compared to October, thanks in part to major contracts going into eastern Germany that saw an 8.3 percent jump in orders in the formerly Communist regions compared to a 0.7 percent rise in the west. Total domestic orders fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent.

Foreign demand powers German industrial orders 2

Hans-Juergen Meltzer, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Research, said the figures were better than he had expected. "This is a very good result and supports expectations of fourth quarter growth of 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter," he said.

Overall industrial orders had risen 3.3 percent in October and were up 12.5 percent in November compared to a year earlier.

"The latest increase was solely based on further improved foreign demand," the ministry said.

Economists note that weakness of the euro against other major currencies has been helping German exporters in recent month.-Reuters