U.S. April Durable Goods Orders UP 1.9%, More Than Forecas
1 Mensagem
|Página 1 de 1
U.S. April Durable Goods Orders UP 1.9%, More Than Forecas
U.S. April Durable Goods Orders Rise 1.9%, More Than Forecast
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. orders for durable goods rose 1.9 percent last month, more than forecast and the most since November, suggesting the economy is undergoing a rebound in business investment.
Bookings for expensive items made to last at least three years increased to $200.3 billion, driven by demand for machinery, computers and aircraft, after falling a revised 1.6 percent in March, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding transportation equipment, orders fell 0.2 percent last month after a 0.2 percent increase that was previously reported as a 0.5 percent decline.
With consumers still spending and interest rates low, businesses are likely to keep replacing outmoded trucks, machinery and computers to meet demand. An acceleration in investment may bolster economic growth this quarter after spending slowed the previous three months.
``Business investment in the second quarter should be quite strong,'' said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Capital Management in Boston, before the report. ``Companies are still quite confident in the economy's potential and are still trying to improve productivity.''
Economists expected durable goods orders to rise 1.3 percent to $197.6 billion, based on the median of 65 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, after a previously reported 2.3 percent decline in March. Estimates ranged from a decrease of 1 percent to a 3.5 percent rise. Orders excluding transportation equipment were forecast to rise 1 percent.
Orders for transportation equipment rose 8.2 percent after falling 6.5 percent in March. Bookings for motor vehicles increased 3.4 percent and aircraft orders surged 28 percent after slumping 22 percent the previous month.
Aircraft
Much of the volatility in durables orders stems from fluctuations in big-ticket civilian aircraft orders that account for only about 3 percent of the total. Boeing Co., the world's second-largest commercial aircraft maker, after Airbus SAS, said it received orders for 14 planes last month compared with 11 in March.
Machinery orders increased 2.2 percent last month after falling 4.9 percent in March. Orders for computers rose 16 percent last month after decreasing 5.3 percent.
Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, rose 1.6 percent last month, the most since January. Shipments, which the government uses to construct quarterly gross domestic product figures, increased 1.1 percent after no change in March, initially reported as a 0.8 percent decline.
Revisions
The revisions to March shipments suggest business investment will be revised higher when the government updates its estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product tomorrow. Before today's statistics, economists projected a 3.6 percent rate of growth for the quarter, up from the government's initial estimate of 3.1 percent.
Orders for defense hardware plunged 15 percent last month, following an 8.3 percent increase. Excluding defense, orders in April rose 2.3 percent.
Inventories of durable goods rose 0.1 percent, the smallest gain since January 2004, after a 0.5 percent rise in March. Unfilled orders, a gauge of future production, were unchanged after falling 0.2 percent.
The inventories data suggest the second quarter will receive less of a boost from stockpiles than it did in the previous three months, economists said.
Tax Law
A provision in the tax law that President George W. Bush signed in May 2003 gave an added incentive for buying capital equipment before December 2004. Large companies could write off 50 percent of qualified investments as long as the equipment was delivered by the end of last year.
The resulting jump in spending in the last three months of 2004 may have contributed to slower demand last quarter, suggesting it will rebound in coming months, economists said.
Investment in new equipment and software rose at a 6.9 percent annual rate from January through March after surging at a 18.4 pace the previous three months, according to figures from the Commerce Department.
Such spending is likely to rise at an 11 percent rate this quarter, according to a forecast by economists at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. That will help the economy expand at a 4 percent pace, according to their forecast.
Fuel Efficiency
Some companies are investing to become more fuel efficient after fuel prices rose to records earlier this year. Air France- KLM Group, Europe's largest airline, may buy as many as eight Boeing Co. 777-200s, an order with a potential value of $1.4 billion, to replace older and less fuel-efficient Boeing planes, the company said last week. The Paris-based airline will gradually replace older models with newer aircraft that burn less fuel and so cost less to operate, said Chief Executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta in a May 19 interview.
``Given the price of fuel, it makes sense to introduce newer models to the fleet,'' Spinetta said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week that consumers and businesses are adapting to higher energy prices. That will eventually reduce the economy's reliance on energy.
The rise in oil prices over the past two years ``has been substantial enough and persistent enough to direct business investment decisions in favor of energy cost reduction,'' he said.
Fed
Central bankers earlier this month said they expected capital spending will likely remain ``robust'' this year, according to the minutes of the policy makers' May 3 meeting issued yesterday.
Other businesses are benefiting from pent-up demand to replace aging equipment. Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of farm equipment, said last week that second-quarter profit rose 27 percent on lower costs, increased prices and sales of more construction machinery. The company also raised its 2005 forecasts.
Equipment sales are now expected to increase 9 percent to 11 percent this year, compared with an earlier forecast of 6 percent to 8 percent.
``We are seeing more demand today than we have seen in a long time,'' Lee Roberts, chief executive of FileNet Corp., said in an interview yesterday. `` Large corporations around the world today are grappling with increases in the rate of growth of data.''
Costa Mesa, California-based FileNet, a maker of software for managing and retrieving digital documents, last month said profit in the first quarter jumped to 20 cents a share, almost twice what analysts forecast.
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. orders for durable goods rose 1.9 percent last month, more than forecast and the most since November, suggesting the economy is undergoing a rebound in business investment.
Bookings for expensive items made to last at least three years increased to $200.3 billion, driven by demand for machinery, computers and aircraft, after falling a revised 1.6 percent in March, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding transportation equipment, orders fell 0.2 percent last month after a 0.2 percent increase that was previously reported as a 0.5 percent decline.
With consumers still spending and interest rates low, businesses are likely to keep replacing outmoded trucks, machinery and computers to meet demand. An acceleration in investment may bolster economic growth this quarter after spending slowed the previous three months.
``Business investment in the second quarter should be quite strong,'' said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Banc of America Capital Management in Boston, before the report. ``Companies are still quite confident in the economy's potential and are still trying to improve productivity.''
Economists expected durable goods orders to rise 1.3 percent to $197.6 billion, based on the median of 65 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, after a previously reported 2.3 percent decline in March. Estimates ranged from a decrease of 1 percent to a 3.5 percent rise. Orders excluding transportation equipment were forecast to rise 1 percent.
Orders for transportation equipment rose 8.2 percent after falling 6.5 percent in March. Bookings for motor vehicles increased 3.4 percent and aircraft orders surged 28 percent after slumping 22 percent the previous month.
Aircraft
Much of the volatility in durables orders stems from fluctuations in big-ticket civilian aircraft orders that account for only about 3 percent of the total. Boeing Co., the world's second-largest commercial aircraft maker, after Airbus SAS, said it received orders for 14 planes last month compared with 11 in March.
Machinery orders increased 2.2 percent last month after falling 4.9 percent in March. Orders for computers rose 16 percent last month after decreasing 5.3 percent.
Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, rose 1.6 percent last month, the most since January. Shipments, which the government uses to construct quarterly gross domestic product figures, increased 1.1 percent after no change in March, initially reported as a 0.8 percent decline.
Revisions
The revisions to March shipments suggest business investment will be revised higher when the government updates its estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product tomorrow. Before today's statistics, economists projected a 3.6 percent rate of growth for the quarter, up from the government's initial estimate of 3.1 percent.
Orders for defense hardware plunged 15 percent last month, following an 8.3 percent increase. Excluding defense, orders in April rose 2.3 percent.
Inventories of durable goods rose 0.1 percent, the smallest gain since January 2004, after a 0.5 percent rise in March. Unfilled orders, a gauge of future production, were unchanged after falling 0.2 percent.
The inventories data suggest the second quarter will receive less of a boost from stockpiles than it did in the previous three months, economists said.
Tax Law
A provision in the tax law that President George W. Bush signed in May 2003 gave an added incentive for buying capital equipment before December 2004. Large companies could write off 50 percent of qualified investments as long as the equipment was delivered by the end of last year.
The resulting jump in spending in the last three months of 2004 may have contributed to slower demand last quarter, suggesting it will rebound in coming months, economists said.
Investment in new equipment and software rose at a 6.9 percent annual rate from January through March after surging at a 18.4 pace the previous three months, according to figures from the Commerce Department.
Such spending is likely to rise at an 11 percent rate this quarter, according to a forecast by economists at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. That will help the economy expand at a 4 percent pace, according to their forecast.
Fuel Efficiency
Some companies are investing to become more fuel efficient after fuel prices rose to records earlier this year. Air France- KLM Group, Europe's largest airline, may buy as many as eight Boeing Co. 777-200s, an order with a potential value of $1.4 billion, to replace older and less fuel-efficient Boeing planes, the company said last week. The Paris-based airline will gradually replace older models with newer aircraft that burn less fuel and so cost less to operate, said Chief Executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta in a May 19 interview.
``Given the price of fuel, it makes sense to introduce newer models to the fleet,'' Spinetta said.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week that consumers and businesses are adapting to higher energy prices. That will eventually reduce the economy's reliance on energy.
The rise in oil prices over the past two years ``has been substantial enough and persistent enough to direct business investment decisions in favor of energy cost reduction,'' he said.
Fed
Central bankers earlier this month said they expected capital spending will likely remain ``robust'' this year, according to the minutes of the policy makers' May 3 meeting issued yesterday.
Other businesses are benefiting from pent-up demand to replace aging equipment. Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of farm equipment, said last week that second-quarter profit rose 27 percent on lower costs, increased prices and sales of more construction machinery. The company also raised its 2005 forecasts.
Equipment sales are now expected to increase 9 percent to 11 percent this year, compared with an earlier forecast of 6 percent to 8 percent.
``We are seeing more demand today than we have seen in a long time,'' Lee Roberts, chief executive of FileNet Corp., said in an interview yesterday. `` Large corporations around the world today are grappling with increases in the rate of growth of data.''
Costa Mesa, California-based FileNet, a maker of software for managing and retrieving digital documents, last month said profit in the first quarter jumped to 20 cents a share, almost twice what analysts forecast.
- Mensagens: 555
- Registado: 2/7/2004 18:11
1 Mensagem
|Página 1 de 1