US durable goods orders jump past forecasts in May

Orders in the US for goods made to last more than three years rose more quickly than expected last month.

According to the US Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, durable goods orders grew at a month-on-month clip of 0.7% in May (consensus: 0.1%).

April's gain on the other hand was revised down by one tenth of a percentage point to show a rise of 0.4%.

Excluding orders from the transportation sector, which are often volatile from one month to the next, May's tally for durable goods orders also beat forecasts, rising by 0.7% (consensus: 0.4%).

Orders for primary metals were especially robust, jumping by 3.1% on the month to reach $21.22bn, while those for machinery increased by 1.1% to $38.18bn.

Core capital goods orders, which exclude both those for the defence sector as well as for aircraft, also came in ahead of expectations, printing at up by 0.8% at $97.40bn (consensus: -0.8%).