The U.S.
Commerce Department reported on Thursday that the durable goods orders fell 1.1
percent m-o-m in September, following a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m advance in August
(originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m gain). That was the largest monthly drop since
May.
Economists had
forecast a 0.8 percent m-o-m decrease.
According to
the report, orders for durable goods excluding transportation decreased 0.3
percent m-o-m, following a revised 0.3 percent m-o-m growth in August
(originally a 0.5 percent m-o-m climb) and exceeding market expectations of 0.2
percent m-o-m drop.
Orders for
non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for
business spending plans, fell 0.5 percent m-o-m in August, after a 0.6 percent
decline m-o-m in August (revised from a previously reported -0.4 percent
m-o-m). Economists had called for a 0.2 percent drop in core capital goods
orders in September.
Shipments of
these core capital goods decreased 0.7 percent m-o-m in September after a flat
m-o-m performance in the prior month (revised from a previously reported +0.3 percent
m-o-m).