U.S. Manufactured Durable Goods New Orders Drop Steeply In April

With orders for transportation equipment pulling back sharply, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a steep drop by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of April.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 6.3 percent in April after surging by a downwardly revised 7.6 percent in March.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to plummet by 7.9 percent compared to the 9.2 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, excluding a 17.1 percent nosedive by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.2 percent in May after dipping by 0.2 percent in April. Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent.

At 9 am ET, Standard & Poor’s is due to release its report on home prices in major metropolitan areas in the month of March.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is scheduled to be interviewed on Bloomberg Television at 9:30 am ET.

At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of May. The consumer confidence index is expected to inch up to 87.3 in May after plunging to 86.0 in April.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to participate in a moderated discussion panel before the Bank of Japan Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies Conference at 8 pm ET.