"Manufacturing is one of the relative bright spots in the economy"
- Guy LeBas, the chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
Orders for durable goods in the world's largest economy plunged 5.2%, reflecting the biggest slump in defence bookings in a decade. However, according to the Commerce Department, the number of bookings for equipment meant to last at least three years, excluding transportation equipment, jumped to 1.9%, up from a 1.0% gain in the preceding month.
"Manufacturing is one of the relative bright spots in the economy," said Guy LeBas, the chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, whose estimate for non-transportation orders was the highest in the Bloomberg survey. "The avoidance of the fiscal cliff issues triggered some increased demand from businesses."
Also Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said that a measure of the number of Americans, who signed contracts to buy homes, soared in January, reaching the highest level since 2010 and pointing at stable growth in the property market. A gauge of pending home sales rose 4.5% last month to 105.9, compared with a 1.9% decline recorded in a month earlier.
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