Investing.com - Euro zone industrial new orders unexpectedly rose in December, official data showed on Wednesday, somewhat offsetting disappointing reports on economic growth and business sentiment in Germany.
Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said its new industrial new orders index rose 0.8% on a monthly basis in December. Economists had expected the index to drop 1.2%.
The agency also revised November's figure to 2.7% from 1.6%.
According to Eurostat, industrial new orders increased by 9.5% in the euro zone in December 2009 compared with December 2008. Total industry excluding ships, railway and aerospace equipment rose 8.1%, the agency said.
Most European stock markets erased earlier losses in the wake of the data, and Britain's FTSE 100 Index turned positive.
Meanwhile, the euro extended gains against the dollar, with EUR/USD rising 3.8% to hit 1.3558.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that Germany's economy stalled in the fourth quarter of 2009 amid weak private consumption. On Tuesday, the influential Ifo German business climate index dropped unexpectedly.