German industrial orders swell in ray of hope for weak economy

(Reuters) -German industrial orders rose by more than forecast in June, official data showed on Tuesday, providing a glimmer of hope for Europe's largest economy, where recession is back on the cards following a contraction in the second quarter.

Industrial orders increased by 3.9% in June on the previous month on a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, the federal statistics office reported.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a rise of 0.5%.

"The increase in orders in June exceeded all expectations, even without major orders," LBBW senior economist Jens-Oliver Niklasch said.

"But in the current dark grey mosaic of economic figures, this is just a single light green tile. More needs to come together to give the industry any real confidence," he added.

Germany was the worst performing major economy last year.

In the second quarter, its gross domestic product shrank by 0.1%, showing the country was failing to pick up steam after skirting a recession at the beginning of the year.

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Rachel More, editing by Thomas Seythal)