Investing.com - U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods bounced back more than forecast in July, recovering from the prior month’s decline, according to official data released on Thursday.
Total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, rose 4.4% last month, the Commerce Department said, compared to economists' expectations for an advance of 3.3%.
June’s orders were revised down to show a decrease of 4.2% from a previously reported 3.9% decline.
Durable goods are typically bulky or heavy manufactured products designed to last at least three years.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 1.5% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% gain.
May's core durable goods orders showed a 0.3% decline, revised up from the initial 0.4% drop.
Immediately after the report, that was released simultaneously with weekly jobless claims, the dollar strengthened slightly. EUR/USD was trading at 1.1285 from around 1.1292 ahead of the publication; GBP/USD was at 1.3187 from 1.3197 earlier; while USD/JPY was at 100.55 from 100.44 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.70, compared to 94.64 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open. The Dow futures fell 31 points, or 0.17%, the S&P 500 futures lost 4 points, or 0.18%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures traded down 8 points, or 0.17%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,322.05 a troy ounce, compared to $1,324.20 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $46.69 a barrel from $46.60 earlier.