Investing.com - U.S. durable goods orders fell more than expected in May, while core orders missed forecasts, dampening optimism over the strength of the economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the U.S. Commerce Department said that total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, declined by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% last month, worse than expectations for a drop of 0.6%. Orders for durable goods in April were revised to a drop of 1.5% from a previously reported decline of 1.0%.
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 0.5% in May, missing forecasts for an increase of 0.6%. Core durable goods orders dipped 0.3% in April, whose figure was revised from previously reported drop of 0.2%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1206 from around 1.1186 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5786 from 1.5765 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.72 from 123.87 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.34, compared to 95.47 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to a modestly higher open. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.2%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 0.52%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.3%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,182.30 a troy ounce, compared to $1,179.90 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $60.09 a barrel from $59.93 earlier.