Subdued aircraft orders likely to have weighed on U.S. durable goods orders growth in November

Subdued aircraft orders in November are expected to have been a drag on U.S. durable goods orders in the month. In October, aircraft orders had stimulated the headline durables print. In November, Boeing has recorded just 13 orders in November, as compared with 85 in October, and that might have lowered the value of aircraft orders registered in the durables report by around 63 percent or close to USD 14 billion. Hence, according to a Societe Generale research report, durable goods orders are expected to have dropped 5.6 percent in November.

Stripping the volatile transportation series, orders are expected to have dropped 0.3 percent after rising 0.4 percent in October. In the meantime, non-defense capital goods orders rose 0.2 percent in October; however, they might have reversed the gain and dropped 0.3 percent in November.

This series appeared to have improved over the summer, as it recorded gains from June to August before declining in September and recording a rise of 0.2 percent in October. However, on a year-on-year basis, it continued to stay 4.3 percent below the year-ago period, highlighting the continued softness in business investment, noted Societe Generale.