US: Durable goods orders not that durable – BMO

US durable goods orders is a dated report but it confirms that businesses began to be more cautious mid-Q1 and it is going to be painfully clear how cautious/concerned they are as more data roll in, Jennifer Lee from BMO Economics briefs.

Key quotes

“US durable goods orders jumped 1.2% in February, while January's 0.2% decline was erased to reflect a 0.1% gain.”

“The key core orders component, a good indication of future activity, fell 0.8% in February following a slight downward revision to January (from +1.1% to +1.0%). And this is a February report. Plenty has happened since then.”