The German manufacturing sector saw robust increases in both output and employment in August, though signs of weakness in new orders and concerns towards global geopolitics weighed on firms' expectations towards growth in the year ahead, according to the latest PMI survey data from IHS Markit. Notably, new export orders showed the weakest rise for over two years.

The headline IHS Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI - a single-figure snapshot of the performance of the manufacturing economy - fell back to 55.9 in August, down from 56.9 in July and its joint-lowest reading in the past yearand-a-half (alongside that seen in June).