- Robert Kavcic, BMO Capital Markets
Orders for US-manufactured goods rose less than experts estimated in March, official figures revealed on Thursday. The US Department of Commerce reported that orders for durable goods in March soared only 0.7%, following the previous month's increase of 1.8%. Excluding transportation items, orders for core durable goods plunged 0.2%, while analysts anticipated 0.4% growth. This negative figure represented the first decline since June 2016. The main cause of March's drop was associated with weaker demand for automobiles, fabricated metal products and machinery. Namely, the number of orders for motor vehicles tumbled 0.8%, the slowest rate of growth in the last 25 months. At the same time, orders for fabricated metal products slipped 0.8%, whereas machinery orders fell 0.2%. In contrast, bookings in the civil aircraft sector jumped 7%. Furthermore, the number of orders for defence equipment advanced 12%. According to analysts, the slowdown at the end of the Q1 was mainly driven by the strong US Dollar, struggles in the energy sector and the weather-related factors. Nevertheless, they believe that businesses are going to increase their capital expenditures in the near future amid the US President Donald Trump's announced tax reform.
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