Investing.com - German factory orders rose more-than-expected in January, fuelling optimism over the health of the euro zone’s largest economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, Deutsche Bundesbank said factory orders increased by a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in January, beating expectations for a gain of 0.7%.
Factory orders declined by 0.2% in December, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 0.5%.
Year-over-year, German factory orders increased at an annualized rate of 8.4% in January from a year earlier, above forecasts for a 7.5% gain, after rising at a rate of 6.1% in December.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to modest gains against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.05% to trade at 1.3740.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.4%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.5%, Germany's DAX picked up 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 added 0.1%.