US durable goods orders fall 1% in February
Durable goods orders dropped 1% month-on-month in February, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 5% fall in January and well and truly short of market forecasts for a print of a 0.6% increase.
The Census Bureau said transportation equipment was the biggest drag on durable goods orders, down 2.8%. However, excluding transportation, new orders were virtually flat.
Orders for capital goods were down 2.2% but rose 0.4% for fabricated metal products and primary metals, while orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft increased 0.2%.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com