German factory orders fall for second straight month

BERLIN: German industrial orders, a key measure of demand for goods in Europe's biggest economy, slumped in August, official data showed Tuesday.

The month-on-month drop of 1.8 percent was the second consecutive month of decline, and missed analysts' forecasts.

Analysts polled by financial services firm FactSet had expected a 0.4 percent rebound in August.

Weakness in domestic demand as well as from outside the eurozone had contributed to the August slump, according to the preliminary data released by the federal statistics office Destatis.

German orders were down 2.6 percent, while those from outside the eurozone dropped 3.7 percent.

Growing demand in the eurozone -- with a growth of 2.5 percent -- helped reduce the overall drop.