Investing.com - U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in October, while core orders also topped forecasts, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, jumped by a seasonally adjusted 3.0% last month, easily surpassing forecasts for 1.5%. Orders for durable goods in September were revised to a drop of 0.8% from a previously reported decline of 1.2%.
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, rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in October, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.3%. Core durable goods orders slumped 0.1% in September.
Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, increased by 1.3% last month, beating expectations for a gain of 0.2%.
Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, decreased 0.4% in October, worse than forecasts for a drop of 0.3%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.0581 from around 1.0587 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5086 from 1.5088 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 122.75 from 122.72 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 100.10, compared to 100.06 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 60 points, or 0.33%, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise 7 points, or 0.31%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures increased 16 points, or 0.35%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,070.70 a troy ounce, compared to $1,072.80 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $42.14 a barrel from $42.16 earlier.