–Ex-Defense Orders +3.4%, Ex-Transport Orders -1.0%
By Joseph Plocek
WASHINGTON (MNI) – U.S. April durable goods orders report contained
more mixed signals than implied in the +2.9% headline, the biggest
gain since January.
Orders were +3.4% excluding defense and -1.0% ex transportation
(down for the first time in three months). The transportation gain was
mainly in nondefense aircraft at +228%, a strange reading given private
data.
Boeing Corp. reported 34 new orders after 43 in March, and this was
not a good guide to the official report.
The other main strengths were in computers at +2.2% and autos
+1.6%. The latter was no surprise since auto sales are recovering.
Orders for primary metals were 2.0% lower, machinery fell 5.9% and
electronics decreased 6.9%. Defense aircraft was -4.4%. So this was a
more mixed report than told in the above-consensus headline.
Shipments posted +1.4% and inventories +0.7% in their fourth gain.
Nondefense capital goods shipments rose 0.2% suggesting advancing
business investment.
Orders are up in four of the last five months, and thus are still
rising in a sign of on-going growth. Orders are up 16.8% over the year
through April in another sign of growth (the Commerce Department
recently benchmarked orders levels, so this growth rate may differ from
computations using prior data).
**Market News International Washington Bureau: (202)371-2121**
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MFU$$$,MGU$$$,MAUDR$]
