New orders for manufactured durable goods orders in the US rose 0.5%, or $1.5 billion, to $313.7 billion in September, the US Census Bureau reported on Wednesday. This reading followed the 3% increase (revised from 2.9%) recorded in August and came in better than the market expectation for an increase of 0.3%. "Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.1 percent. Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive months, led the increase, $0.4 billion or 0.4 percent to $110.7 billion," the press release showed. The US Dollar Index edges higher following ... (full story)