Durable goods orders beat expectations, signaling business investment rebound that crypto markets are watching

New orders for durable goods rose in June, snapping back from a steep decline the prior month and beating economist expectations. The headline number came in at a 0.3% month-over-month increase, bringing total orders to $334.8 billion, according to the US Census Bureau. That might sound modest. But when Wall Street was bracing for a flat reading and the prior month was revised down to a brutal 4.0% decline, even a small positive surprise matters. The numbers under the hood Strip out the notoriously volatile transportation sector and the picture looks even better. Durable goods orders excluding transportation climbed 0.6%, suggesting the gain wasn’t just a few lucky aircraft contracts pulling the average up. The real standout was computers and electronic products, which surged 3.1% to $31.1 billion. That’s roughly $900 million in additional orders flowing into the tech manufacturing pipeline. New capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business investment plans, also posted a healthy gain. The defense-excluded measure ticked up 0.3%, confirming that civilian business spending held up even without Pentagon contracts doing the heavy lifting. Why AI spendin...