US: Durable Goods Orders fell 2% in November vs. +1.5% expected

• Durable Goods Orders declined sharply on a monthly basis in November.
• Durable Goods Orders excluding defense rose more than expected. 

Durable Goods Orders in November decreased 2% to $242.6 billion, the advanced monthly report published by the US Census Bureau showed on Monday. This reading missed the market expectation for an increase of 1.5% by a wide margin. 

"Excluding transportation, new orders were virtually unchanged. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.8%," the publication further revealed. "Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, led the decrease, $4.9 billion or 5.9% to $79.2 billion." 

The greenback largely ignored the data and the US Dollar Index was last up 0.11% on the day at 97.79.