The U.S.
Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that the value of new factory orders climbed
by 0.7 per cent m-o-m in April, following a downwardly revised
0.7 per cent m-o-m jump (from +1.6 per cent m-o-m) in March. This was the third
straight monthly gain in factory orders.
Economists had expected
a gain of 0.6 per cent m-o-m for April.
According to
the report, orders for durable goods increased 0.6 per cent m-o-m in April, led by gains in primary
metals (+1.3 per cent m-o-m) and transportation equipment (+1.1 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, orders for nondurable goods increased by 0.8 per cent m-o-m.
Total factory
orders excluding transportation, a volatile part of the overall reading, also
rose by 0.7 per cent m-o-m (compared to a downwardly revised 0.4 per cent m-o-m
increase (from +0.5 per cent m-o-m) in March), while orders for nondefense
capital goods excluding aircraft, a measure of business spending plans, went up 0.2 per cent m-o-m (compared to a
0.2 per cent m-o-m drop in March and instead of increasing +0.3 per cent m-o-m as
reported last month).