US March factory orders surge +1.5%, versus +0.5% consensus as core capex revised higher

AI summary

<ul><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">US March factory orders +1.5% vs +0.5% expected (prior unchanged, revised to +0.3%)</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Factory orders ex-transportation +1.6% vs +1.6% prior (revised from +1.2%)</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Factory orders ex-defense +0.9% vs +0.3% prior</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Durables orders unrevised at +0.8%</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Nondefense capital goods orders ex-aircraft revised to +3.4% from +3.3%; March shipments unrevised at +1.2%</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Computers/electronic products orders +3.6% vs +1.4% prior</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Nondurables orders +2.1% vs +1.9% prior</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Total manufacturing inventories +0.6% vs +0.1% prior</li><li class="whitespace-normal break-words pl-2">Inventories/shipments ratio 1.51 months vs 1.52 months prior</li></ul><p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">This is a clean beat across the board and a meaningful upward revision to February. The headline tripled the consensus estimate and the revision history continues to flatter the underlying trend. The standout remains core capital goods orders ex-aircraft, nudged up to +3.4% — that is a blistering print and reinforces what the durable goods report flagged last week around AI infrastructur