US durable goods orders rise less than expected

New orders for US durable goods rose 0.8% in March to $230.7bn, according to the Commerce Department, missing expectations of a 1.8% increase.

The rise was underpinned by a surge in defence spending, and followed on from a revised 3.1% drop in February.

Excluding transportation, new orders fell 0.2%, while excluding defence, they decreased 1%.

Economists had expected durable goods ex-transportation to increase 0.5%.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "The headline was boosted by a rebound in defense aircraft orders - civilian orders dipped a bit, surprisingly - while orders ex-transport were almost certainly constrained by the early Easter.

"In six of the past seven March Easters, orders ex-transport have been weaker month-on-month than the prior trend. The
shortfall this time, though, was smaller than usual, and is consitent with our view that the underlying trend in orders is beg-
inning to rise, as signalled by the ISM manufacturing survey. We now expect a hefty rebound in the April ex-transportation
number, perhaps as much as 2.5% m/m."