Dec 5 Reuters German industrial orders fell in October, sapped by weak domestic demand, showing that a recovery in the industrial sector is not in sight.

Orders declined by 1.5 on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics office said on Thursday.

A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a fall of 2.0.

The negative development stems from declines in the manufacture of machinery and equipment by 7.6 on the month and in the automotive industry by 3.7.

On the other hand, increases were observed in the manufacture of basic metals, up 10.2 on the month, and the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, which rose 8.0 compared to the previous month.

When largescale orders are excluded, new orders were 0.1 higher than in the previous month.

The less volatile threemonth on threemonth comparison showed total new orders were 2.7 higher in the period from August to October than in the prior three months, according to the statistics office data.

October39;s expected decline from a sharp increase the previous month was somewhat smaller than feared, while the previous month39;s figure was revised noticeably upwards, said Elmar Voelker, economist at LBBW.

After revision of the provisional results, new orders in September increased by 7.2 compared with August, more than the 4.2 previously reported. The revision is due to a largescale order in the manufacture of ships.

There is therefore a small glimmer of hope in the…