US: Durable goods orders increased by 2.7% vs 0.8% expected

The data published by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that durable goods orders in March expanded by 2.7% on a monthly basis to surpass the market expectation for an increase of 0.8%. The market reaction to this reading lifted the US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, to its highest level since May 16 of 2017. At the moment, the index is up 0.27% on the day at 98.32.

Key takeaways from the press release

• Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4 percent.
• Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.3 percent.
• Transportation equipment, also up four of the last five months, led the increase, $6.1 billion or 7.0 percent to $93.8 billion.
• Shipments of manufactured durable goods in March, up four of the last five months, increased $0.9 billion or 0.3 percent to $259.6 billion.