Investing.com - U.S. durable goods orders rose significantly more than expected in July, while core orders declined unexpectedly, painting a mixed picture of the U.S. economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, surged by a seasonally adjusted 22.6% last month, blowing past expectations for an increase of 7.5%.
Orders for durable goods in June were revised up to a 2.7% gain from a previously reported increase of 1.7%.
Commercial aircraft orders skyrocketed 318% in July, after Boeing (NYSE:BA) signed a record number of contracts for new jetliners in July. Demand for cars and trucks were also strong again, up 10.2%.
Durable goods are typically bulky or heavy products designed to last at three years, such as trains, planes and automobiles.
Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, eased down by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in July, missing forecasts for a 0.5% gain. Core durable goods orders rose by 3% in June.
Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, fell 0.5% last month, below expectations for a 0.2% increase and after rising 5.4% in June.
Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, increased 1.5% in July, above forecasts for a 0.7% gain, after rising 0.9% in the preceding month.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.06% to trade at 1.3200, compared to 1.3192 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 pointed to a gain of 0.15%, the S&P 500 indicated an increase of 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 signaled a rise of 0.2%.