Investing.com - U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in January, while core orders trailed estimates, providing mixed signals on the strength of the economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, increased by a seasonally adjusted 2.8% last month, above expectations for a gain of 1.7%.
Orders for durable goods in December were revised down to a 3.7% drop from a previously reported decline of 3.3%.
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, inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in January, disappointing forecasts for a 0.5% gain.
Core durable goods orders declined by 0.9% in December, whose figure was revised from previously reported drop of 0.8%.
Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, rose by 0.6% last month, beating expectations for a 0.3% increase and after falling 0.7% in December.
Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, declined 0.3% in January, disappointing forecasts for a 0.2% gain, after rising 0.3% in the preceding month.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1305 from around 1.1318 ahead of the release of the data, while GBP/USD was at 1.5484 from 1.5489 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 119.03 from 118.85 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 94.57, compared to 94.52 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.1%, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 0.15%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,216.60 a troy ounce, compared to $1,218.00 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $50.17 a barrel from $50.02 earlier.