The German Machinery Industry's Orders Declined for a Sixth Month in April

Rieter Holding AG (RIEN), a Swiss maker of textile machinery, fell to an eight-month low after the release of figures showing the German machinery industry’s orders declined for a sixth month in April. Rieter dropped as much as 7.3 percent to 128 Swiss francs, the lowest price since Sept. 3, and was trading down 5.7 percent at 4: 10 p. M. In Zurich. The decline pushed the stock down 3.7 percent this year. Competitor OC Oerlikon Corp declined 2.3 percent to 7.92 francs. Orders for German machinery, adjusted for inflation, fell 11 percent from a year earlier in April, according to data from the Frankfurt-based VDMA industry association. Domestic sales contracts dropped 14 percent, while export orders declined 9 percent. Germany is the largest national export market for Switzerland’s machinery industry, Volkan Goecmen, a Zurich-based analyst at Helvea, wrote in a note to investors. “Most of the Swiss machinery stocks have a high correlation to industrial data coming out of Germany, ” Oliver Girakhou, an analyst in Zurich at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux, said by phone. Rieter is a very cyclical company which is sensitive to macro-economic developments, he said. Source: bloomberg.com