Marketwatch details:

The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said May industrial orders across the euro zone rose 3.8% compared to April and rose 22.7% compared to May 2009.

Economists had forecast a flat monthly reading and a 20% year-on-year rise. The agency, however, revised down the April rise to a 0.6% monthly increase and a 21.9% year-on-year rise.

The PMI figures, meanwhile, are among the most closely-watched data in the euro zone. The rise in the July data reflected an increase in the preliminary euro-zone manufacturing PMI to 58.3 in July from 57.2 in June, and a rise in the preliminary services PMI to 56.0 from 55.5.