German factory orders picked up in March as strong global trade helped offset a lull in domestic demand.Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, advanced 1.9 per cent from the prior month, when they fell a revised 0.8 per cent, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Monday.

The reading, which is typically volatile, compares with a median estimate for an increase of 0.6 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. Orders climbed 1.7 per cent from a year earlier.

Exports from outside the euro area rebounded with global headwinds such as a slowdown in China, Germany’s third-biggest trading partner, failing to damp demand for shipments. At the same time, while the German economy has proved resilient on the back of record-low unemployment, the effect of low oil prices that have boosted consumer spending may be starting to fade.Export orders rose 4.3 per cent, led by a 6.2 per cent surge in orders from the outside the euro area, and domestic orders fell 1.2 per cent in March, the ministry report showed. Orders for investment goods advanced 4 per cent and those for consumer goods gained 1.6 per cent.

Bloomberg