US durable goods orders grow at slower pace in Dec

According to data from the US Census Bureau, new orders for manufactured durable goods ticked up by 0.2% from November to $245.3 billion in December, extending its rising trend to the eighth straight month.

The monthly increase was mainly driven by machinery orders, which surged by 2.4% to $33.2 billion when compared to November.

Excluding transportation, new orders increased by 0.7% and excluding defense they were up by 0.5% in December, data further showed.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods were also up by 1.4% to $253.8 billion, notching the 7th consecutive month of increase in December. Inventories of durable goods, however, edged down by 0.2% month-over-month to $425.9 billion.