The U.S. manufacturing sector showed unexpected weakness as the Commerce Department reported a 1.4% decline in durable goods orders for February. This figure surprised economists who had anticipated a modest increase, raising new concerns about the health of the domestic economy. The slump was primarily driven by a significant 28.6% drop in non-defense aircraft orders. More concerning for the broader economic outlook, core capital goods orders, a key indicator of business investment, also stagnated. This suggests that businesses may be scaling back on investments in response to higher borrowing costs and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, potentially signaling a slowdown in economic growth heading into the second quarter.
Market Impact: The S&P 500 fell by 0.73%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.10%, and the Dow Jones declined by 0.80%. In the crypto market, Bitcoin saw a 2.04% decrease since the last session close, and Ethereum fell by 2.83%.