US Durable Goods Orders Decline Less Than Expected in April, Dollar Holds Firm

Durable Goods Orders in the United States fell by 6.3% in April, or $19.9 billion, to $296.3 billion, according to data released Tuesday by the US Census Bureau. While this marks the largest monthly decline since April 2020, it was a smaller drop than the 7.9% contraction forecast by economists. The report also revised March’s gain down to 7.6% from the previously reported 9.2%.

The main drag on April’s figures came from transportation equipment, which tumbled 17.1%, or $20.3 billion, to $98.8 billion, snapping a four-month streak of gains. Stripping out transportation, new orders for durable goods actually rose 0.2%, indicating some underlying resilience in other sectors. However, when excluding defense, new orders declined 7.5%.

The report suggests that while headline orders were hit by a pullback in large-ticket items such as aircraft, other areas of manufacturing remained relatively stable. Markets responded with a steady US Dollar Index (DXY), which held above the 99.00 mark in positive territory, as traders weighed the data’s impact on the Federal Reserve’s outlook.