The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that the durable goods orders tumbled 14.4 percent m-o-m in March, following a revised 1.1 percent m-o-m increase in February (originally a 1.2 percent m-o-m surge).

Economists had forecast an 11.9 percent m-o-m decline.

According to the report, orders for durable goods excluding transportation fell 0.2 percent m-o-m in March, following a revised 0.7 percent m-o-m increase in February (originally a drop of 0.6 percent m-o-m), much better than the market forecast of 5.8 percent m-o-m drop.

Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.1 percent m-o-m in March after a revised 0.8 percent fall m-o-m in February (originally a 0.9 percent m-o-m decrease). Economists had called for a 6.0 percent m-o-m plunge in core capital goods orders in March.