Forex Pros – Industrial new orders in the euro zone rose unexpectedly in December, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, Eurostat said that industrial new orders rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in December, after rising by 2.2% in November, whose figure was revised up from 2.1%.
Analysts had expected industrial new orders to drop by 0.8% in December.
The report also showed that the annualized rate of industrial new orders in the euro zone rose more-than-expected, increasing by 18.5% in December, after rising by a revised 20.0% in November.
Analysts had expected the annualized rate of industrial new orders to rise by 16.2% in December.
Following the release of the data, the euro was up against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD gaining 0.35% to hit 1.3699.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mixed: The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.05%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.05%, the FTSE 100 was down 0.61%, while Germany’s DAX slumped 0.32%.
ForexPros.com
