By CountingPips.com
Durable goods orders fell more than expected in August while new home sales were unchanged for the month, according to separate reports released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. New orders for durable goods orders declined by 1.3 percent or by $2.5 billion to a seasonally adjusted total of $191.2 billion in August. Today’s report follows a revised decrease of 0.7 percent in new orders for July and marks a third decline in the last four months.
Durable goods are assets that are generally considered to last more than three years.
Today’s data came in worse than market forecasts that were expecting durable goods orders to decrease by approximately 1.0 percent for the month.
New orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, came in better than expected and rose by 2.0 percent in August following a decrease by 2.8 percent in July. Market forecasts were predicting an increase of 1.0 percent in durable goods minus transportation.
Shipments of durable goods fell by 1.5 percent after two months of increases while unfilled orders fell by 0.1 percent. Durable good inventories increased for the eighth consecutive month with a rise of 0.4 percent. August nondefense orders for new goods declined by 0.9 percent and defense orders for capital goods fell by 1.5 percent to a total of $9.4 billion.
New Home Sales are flat after declining to a new low
New Home Sales in the United States were unchanged in August after registering a new record low level the month before, according to a separate report released by the Department of Commerce today. Purchases of new single family homes remained unchanged in August at an annual rate of 288,000 new homes sold. The July data originally showed an annual rate of 276,000 homes sold but was revised higher to 288,000. This revised number still remains the lowest level on record since the government started keeping records in 1963.
Market forecasters were expecting an increase by 6.9 percent in the monthly sales level for an annual rate of 295,000 new homes sold. On an annual basis, August’s rate of new homes sold was 28.9 percent lower than the August 2009 sales level.
Leading the decrease in August was a 26.1 percent drop in new homes sold in the the Midwest while the South registered a 10.8 percent decline in sales. Sales in the Northeast rose by 16.7 percent while the West saw an advance by 54.3 percent from July to August.
On an annual basis, all four regions had declining sales levels from the August 2009 period with the Midwest showing the largest decrease by 38.2 percent over that time. The Northeast’s annual sales level was down by 5.4 percent while the West is lower by 33.6 percent and the South is lower by 28.2 percent.
FOREX: US Dollar on the decline today, Stocks rising higher
The U.S. dollar has been mostly lower in forex trading today against the other major currencies while the U.S. stock markets have been higher by close to 2 percent for the day. The dollar has fallen today versus the euro, British pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar, according to currency data by Oanda. The Swiss franc is currently trading close to unchanged versus the American currency in forex trading action.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, have gained sharply so far today with the Dow Jones rising by nearly 200 points, the Nasdaq increasing almost 50 points and the S&P 500 up by over 20 points at time of writing. Oil has advanced by $1.18 to $76.36 while gold has made a new record high today and edges closer to that $1,300 per ounce level with the current price at the $1,296.30 per ounce level.