By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US factory orders rose 0.4% in April, coming much lower than market estimates, according to Commerce Department figures released Monday.
New orders for manufactured goods increased $2.6 billion, or 0.4%, to reach $577.5 billion in April, rising for the fourth time in the last five months.
The market expectation for the figure, which measures the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, was to show a gain of 1.1% in April.
The figure for March was revised down from a rise of 0.9% to an increase of 0.6%, while it stood at $574.9 billion that month.
New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $3 billion, or 1.1%, to reach $282.8 billion, which was up for two consecutive months.
The figure in March posted a gain of 3.3%.
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April rose by $5.1 billion, or 1%, to $521.8 billion, also rising for the fourth time in the past five months.
During the last five months, the only decline for the figure came in March when it decreased 1%.