- Durable Goods Orders for March rose 3.4% versus estimates of a 2.5% gain and an upwardly revised 2.4% gain in February.
- Durables Ex Transports for March rose 1.5% versus estimates of a 1.1% gain and an upwardly revised -.4% decline in February.
- New Home Sales for March rose to 858K versus estimates of 890K and 836K in February.
BOTTOM LINE: Orders for US durable goods rose more than forecast in March, signaling business spending started to recover as the first quarter ended, Bloomberg said. Demand at Boeing(BA) surged, while orders for communications equipment metals and machinery bounced back. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a gauge of future business investment, jumped 4.7%, the largest gain since September 2004. 100 CEOs turned optimistic over the pace of future US economic growth for the first time in a year, according to a recent Conference Board survey. I continue to believe manufacturing bottomed last quarter and will begin adding to US economic growth this quarter as companies gain confidence in the sustainability of the current expansion.
Purchases of new homes in the US rose in March as better weather and sales incentives brought out more buyers, Bloomberg reported. The median price of a new home rose 6.4% in March to $254,000 from $238,800 a year earlier. The supply of new homes at the current sales pace fell to 7.8 months’ worth from 8.1 months in February. Sales soared 50% in the Northeast and jumped 9.8% in the Midwest. Sales fell 2.7% in the South and .9% in the West. Moreover, mortgage applications rose the most in seven weeks this week, led by a 3.7% surge in purchase applications. I continue to believe home sales have stabilized at relatively high levels and will trend around current levels over the intermediate-term.
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