The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the durable goods orders rose 0.4 percent m-o-m in January 2019, following a revised 1.3 percent m-o-m gain in December 2018 (originally a 1.2 percent m-o-m advance). 

Economists had forecast a 0.5 percent m-o-m decrease. 

According to the report, transportation equipment (+1.2 percent m-o-m) drove the increase. Meanwhile, orders for durable goods excluding transportation edged down 0.1 percent m-o-m, following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent m-o-m gain in December and missing market expectations of a 0.1 percent m-o-m gain.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.8 percent m-o-m in January, after declining 0.9 percent m-o-m in December.