The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that the durable goods orders jumped 1.2 percent m-o-m in February, following a revised 0.1 percent m-o-m increase in January (originally a 0.2 percent m-o-m drop).

Economists had forecast a 0.8 percent m-o-m decline.

According to the report, orders for durable goods excluding transportation fell 0.6 percent m-o-m in February (the biggest drop since February 2016), following a revised 0.6 percent m-o-m increase in January (originally a gain of 0.9 percent m-o-m) and missing market expectations of a 0.4 percent m-o-m drop.

Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, declined 0.8 percent m-o-m in February after a revised 1.0 percent advance m-o-m in January (originally a 1.1 percent m-o-m surge). Economists had called for a 0.4 percent m-o-m decrease in core capital goods orders in February.

Shipments of these core capital goods fell 0.7 percent m-o-m in February after an upwardly revised 1.1 percent m-o-m advance in the prior month (originally a 1.0 percent m-o-m jump).