US durable goods orders decline more quickly than expected in September

Orders for US durable goods in September fell back at twice the pace expected by economists, amid lower order intakes for automobiles and parts, and for commercial aircraft.

According to the Department of Commerce, total orders for US durable goods fell at a month-on-month pace of 1.1% to $248.16bn (consensus: 0.6%).

Orders for automobiles and parts shrank by 1.6% over the month to reach $60.44bn while those for civilian airplanes dropped by 11.8% to $7.99bn.

Demand for fabricated metal products also declined, by 1.5% to $33.76bn, and that for computers and electronic products by 0.9% to $23.33bn.

On a more positive note, excluding the transportation sector, orders were down by only 0.3% versus July, as expected.

However, orders for so-called 'core' capital goods, which excludes both those for defence and civilian jets, dropped by 0.5% (consensus: -0.1%).

August's increase in total durable goods orders was revised up from a preliminary reading of 0.2% to 0.3%.