Beneath the headline, nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft rose by 0.3% in April compared to the 0.5% expected. In March, this print rose by 1.1%. Meanwhile, nondefense capital goods shipments excluding aircraft rose by 0.8% in April, topping expectations.
Stocks rose on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's May policy meeting showed the central bank is ready to raise interest rates at a faster pace than previously anticipated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 200 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.95% and 1.5% higher, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Fed minutes show more 50-basis point hikes are coming:
The Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes in May released Wednesday showed that the central bank is considering two more half-point interest rate hikes.
"Most participants judged that 50 basis point increases in the target range would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings," the minutes said. "Many participants assessed that the Committee's previous communications had been helpful in shifting market expectations regarding the policy outlook into better alignment with the Committee's assessment and had contributed to the tightening of financial conditions."
The central bank also noted in the minutes that policymakers will make further decisions based on incoming data on the economy, with its primary goal being to bring down inflation.
"Participants agreed that the economic outlook was highly uncertain and that policy decisions should be data dependent and focused on returning inflation to the Committee's 2% goal while sustaining strong labor market conditions," the minutes added. "At present, participants judged that it was important to move expeditiously to a more neutral monetary policy stance. They also noted that a restrictive stance of policy may well become appropriate depending on the evolving economic outlook and the risks to the outlook."
Durable goods orders decelerate in April:
U.S. durable goods--manufactured products intended to last at least three years--orders decelerated in April and were downwardly revised in March, signaling that businesses may be scaling down purchasing activity amid heightened economic uncertainties.
Orders rose 0.3% in April month-over-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's report published Wednesday, coming below the 0.6% expected. In March, durable goods orders increased by a revised 0.6% rate from the 1.1% gain previously reported.
