German equity markets experienced a downturn on Monday following official reports that revealed a sharper-than-anticipated decline in Germany’s factory orders for August.
According to preliminary statistics provided by Destatis, incoming new orders contracted by 5.8% on a monthly basis in August, counteracting the upwardly revised 3.9% growth seen in July. Projections had anticipated a more modest decline of 1.9%.
Notably, this represents the most significant drop since January, during which orders decreased by 10.9%. When excluding substantial individual orders, the decline from July was 3.4%.
On an annual scale, new orders fell by 3.9%, a stark contrast to the 4.6% increase observed in the previous month.
The benchmark DAX index decreased by 63 points, or 0.3%, settling at 19,057, following a 0.6% rise on Friday.
In sector-specific news, Heidelberg Materials saw a 1.2% increase following reports that India's Adani Group has initiated discussions to acquire the company’s cement operations in India, in a transaction potentially valued at around $1.2 billion.