By CountingPips.com
Durable goods orders fell unexpectedly in June and for a second month in a row, according to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. New orders for durable goods orders declined by 1.0 percent or by $2.0 billion to a seasonally adjusted total of $190.5 billion in June. Today’s report follows a revised decrease of 0.8 percent in new orders for May. Contributing to the slowdown in orders for June was a 25.6 percent decrease in orders for commercial aircraft as transportation equipment 
fell by 2.4 percent for the month.
Durable goods are assets that are generally considered to last more than three years. Despite June’s decrease, new orders for durable goods are still 16.5 percent above the June 2009 level.
Today’s data came in worse than the market forecasts that were expecting durable goods orders to increase by approximately 1.0 percent for the month.
New orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, dipped by 0.6 percent in June following a revised increase by 1.2 percent in May. Market forecasts were predicting an increase of 0.4 percent in durable goods minus transportation.
Shipments of durable goods were down for a second straight month in June by 0.3 percent and unfilled orders fell 0.1 percent while durable good inventories increased by 0.9 percent, advancing for a sixth consecutive month. June nondefense orders for new goods declined by 1.6 percent while defense orders for capital goods fell by 6.8 percent.
FOREX: US Dollar mostly lower today, Stocks muted in early trading
The U.S. dollar has been mostly lower in forex trading this morning against the other major currencies while the U.S. stock markets have been close to unchanged from the opening bell. The dollar has gained today versus the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar while falling against the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, according to currency data by Oanda.
The U.S. stock markets, meanwhile, have edged slightly lower so far this morning with the Dow Jones falling by 20 points, the Nasdaq decreasing 5 points and the S&P 500 down by 3 points. Oil has edged lower by $0.66 to $76.84 while gold is virtually unchanged and trades at the $1,158.00 per ounce level.
