U.S. durable goods order grows sequentially in March, supports acceleration in business fixed investment

The U.S. durable goods orders grew 0.7 percent on a sequential basis in March, a slowdown from the upwardly revised 2.3 percent growth in February. The March data has come below the consensus expectations of a rise of 1.3 percent. The upward revision to February data countered the weakness in March relative to the projections.

Given the order data from Boeing, a stronger rise in nondefense aircraft and overall transportation orders was expected; however, transportation orders rose just 2.4 percent in March, while nondefense aircraft orders were up 7 percent. Some of the likely increase in non-defense aircraft orders might have been pushed into revisions as aircraft orders for February were modestly revised higher, noted Barclays.

Meanwhile, core capital goods orders were modestly up by 0.2 percent sequentially in March, slightly below expectations. Core capital shipments were up 0.4 percent month-on-month. Core shipments, which had also risen 1.1 percent in February, are an importance input to the BEA’s estimate of the first quarter GDP, and the core data is seen as consistent with an acceleration in business fixed investment, added Barclays.

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength of US Dollar was neutral at 13.0065. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex