US new orders for manufactured goods rose 0.1% in August, matching expectations but slowing from July's pace, according to the US Census Bureau's factory orders report.

Factory orders came in at +0.1% for the month, in line with the +0.1% consensus. July's gain was revised down to 0.8% from the 0.9% initially reported, a routine adjustment that leaves the recent two-month pace of order growth more moderate than first estimated.

Key figures from the release:

• Factory orders: +0.1% versus +0.1% expected; prior month revised to 0.8% from 0.9%
• Factory orders excluding transportation: +0.3%, after a +0.7% prior-month reading
• Durable goods orders: revised to -0.1% from 0.0% initially reported
• Durable goods excluding transportation: revised to +0.2% from +0.3%
• Durable goods excluding defense: revised to 0.0% from +0.1%
• Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft: +1.6%, unchanged from the preliminary reading

The durable goods revisions were modestly softer. Overall orders were revised to a 0.1% decline, while orders transportation were trimmed to a 0.2% gain. The closely watched measure of business equipment investment plans — nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft — held on to its 1.6% increase, the stronger detail beneath an otherwise subdued headline.

Quick analysis (ForexLive): The headline met expectations, giving traders little surprise to work with. Slower overall order growth and the softer durable goods revisions suggest more restrained manufacturing demand, but the solid increase in core capital goods orders provides an offset. Taken alone, the report offers limited reason to materially change Federal Reserve expectations or the outlook for the dollar and Treasury yields.

The next update to the series comes with September's advance durable goods report, followed by the full factory orders release, which will show whether the subdued headline pace persisted or the strength in core capital goods carried through.

What the report measures: The Census Bureau's factory orders report tracks the monthly, seasonally adjusted dollar value of new orders for manufactured goods, covering both durable and nondurable products — the latter spanning goods such as food, chemicals, and petroleum products. Traders monitor orders for clues about future production, while capital goods orders excluding defense and aircraft help gauge business equipment investment plans. Because the bulk of the durable goods detail is published earlier in the advance durable goods report, the factory orders release primarily adds the nondurable goods component and revisions to previously reported data, so the incremental information in any given month typically arrives in those two pieces.

Source: ForexLive