New orders for durable US manufactured goods jumped a surprising 1.3% in July, while a gauge of business investment also rose unexpectedly.
Orders for long-lasting goods, items meant to last three years or more, were up after an upwardly revised 1.3% gain in June, according to the US Commerce Department.
Analysts were expecting durables orders to remain unchanged from June.
Stock futures rose and the dollar strengthened in foreign exchange trading against the euro, while US Treasury debt prices slipped on the report.
Transportation orders rose 3.1% in July, the largest gain since February, on a 28% rise in civilian aircraft orders.
Orders for machinery and primary and fabricated metals rose, while demand for computers and appliances waned.
Even when volatile transportation orders were stripped out, demand for durables rose 0.7%. Analysts had expected a 0.5% drop in durables orders excluding transportation.
Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, seen as a barometer of business spending, jumped 2.6%, the steepest gain since April. Analysts were expecting that category to decline by 0.1%.
