(Reuters) - German industrial orders unexpectedly fell in April, marking the fourth month in a row of decreases, due to a significantly smaller number of large-scale orders compared with the previous month, according to federal statistics office data on Thursday.
New orders were down by 0.2% month on month on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise of 0.5%.
"The negative trend that has persisted since the beginning of the year is thus continuing, albeit at a much slower pace," said the economy ministry.
However, excluding the often highly volatile large-scale orders, April orders were up 2.9% on the month.
"Together with the more positive sentiment indicators, this gives hope that the downward trend that has persisted for more than two years is coming to an end," said Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) economist Ralph Solveen.
The ministry also referred to improved sentiment indicators, "which should also lead to a trend reversal in incoming orders."