US Core Capital Goods Orders Rose Ahead of Middle East War

A worker carries a metal door during production at a manufacturing facility in Sacramento, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

US orders for business equipment rebounded in February, suggesting companies were moving forward on investment plans before the Iran war.

Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for investment in equipment, increased 0.6% after a downwardly revised 0.4% decline a month earlier, Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.5% advance in February.