[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Business Title: Gains in U.S. Factory Orders, Pending Home Sales Show Recovery Quickening May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Factory orders unexpectedly rose in March and more Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes, indicating the U.S. economy gained speed entering the second quarter. The 1.3 percent increase in orders placed with manufacturers matched the prior month’s gain, which was more than twice as large as previously estimated, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Signed home-purchase agreements, or pending sales, rose 5.3 percent in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Factory sales rose the most since November 2007 as companies such as Texas Instruments Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. profited from increased spending on equipment and inventory restocking. Rising demand may generate the job growth needed to sustain the recovery and maintain gains in housing that have largely been owed to a government tax incentive. “Manufacturing is unambiguously the strongest part of the economy,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “The hope is that demand continues to strengthen so it becomes a sustainable recovery. If we get some really good job growth, that will be the clincher.” Stocks held earlier losses after the reports on concern the European government debt crisis is spreading to Spain and Portugal. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 2.4 percent to 1,173.1 at 11:29 a.m. in New York. Treasury securities rose. Factory orders were forecast to be little changed after a previously reported 0.6 percent gain the prior month, according to the median forecast of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Projections ranged from a drop of 1 percent to an increase of 1 percent. Orders Minus Transportation Orders excluding volatile transportation goods, such as aircraft, jumped 3.1 percent, the most since August 2005. Demand for civilian aircraft slumped 67 percent, the Commerce Department’s figures showed. Bookings for capital goods excluding aircraft and military equipment, a measure of future business investment, increased 4.5 percent, more than the government estimated last week. Shipments of those goods, used to calculate gross domestic product, rose 2.3 percent, also better than the figures issued last week. Flush with profits, businesses are spending more on equipment. Business investment rose at a 13 percent annual rate in the first quarter after a 19 percent surge at the end of 2009, the government reported last week. Texas Instruments Texas Instruments, the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, posted a 54 percent gain in first quarter sales and predicted second-quarter sales and profits that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by demand for semiconductors used in industrial machinery, phone networks and cars. “Our production output is at an all-time high, and we have a multiyear ramp in capacity under way that will allow us to support our customers,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin March said in a conference call on April 26. Caterpillar is seeing surging orders from abroad. Its industrial machinery sales to Asia-Pacific soared 40 percent while shipments to Latin America rose 7 percent and North America sales fell 15 percent in the first quarter, the company reported last month. “We’re seeing a pretty good bounce in investor confidence around the world in terms of our customers, particularly those in the emerging-market theaters around the world,” Caterpillar Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens said in a Bloomberg Television interview on April 26. Jump in Exports Exports rose in February to the highest level since October 2008, the Commerce Department reported last month. Manufacturing in April expanded at the fastest pace since 2004, according to a national survey of purchasing managers yesterday. While manufacturing is benefiting from the global expansion, the housing market has received its boost from a tax credit of as much as $8,000 for buyers who signed the contracts by the end of April. Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement that sales will be “measurably lower” in the months immediately following the expiration. The incentive for first-time homebuyers was extended in November to include some current owners, and requires buyers to close transactions by June 30. “Clearly the homebuyer tax credit has helped stabilize the market,” Yun said. “Later in the second half of the year, and into 2011, home sales will likely become self-sustaining if the economy can add jobs.” Leading Indicator Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because they track contract signings. The Realtors’ existing- home sales report tallies closings, which typically occur a month or two later. The Realtors group, whose pending sales data go back to January 2001, started publishing the index in March 2005. Three of four regions saw an increase in signed contracts. The report showed a 13 percent gain in the South, a 1.9 percent rise in the West and a 1.2 percent increase in the Midwest. Pending sales fell 3.3 percent in the Northeast. Compared with March 2009, pending sales rose 24 percent.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
No arguing that it's REAL activity that is occurring...it is arguable as to the sustainibility...
#67. To: war (#48) Keep hiding behind the bozo, bozo. (laughing) You've always been a world class pussy. Badeye posted on 2010-01-14 16:12:48 ET Reply Trace
|
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|