December factory orders fell 0.7%, in line with estimates

Group 1 - December factory orders decreased by 0.75%, marking the weakest performance since last year, with a total decline of 710 million [1] - Excluding transportation, factory orders showed a positive increase of 0.4%, indicating underlying strength in certain sectors, which is the best performance since July of last year [2] - Durable goods orders remained unchanged at a decline of 1.4%, the weakest since October, but excluding transportation, the figure improved to 1%, the best since early last year [3][4] Group 2 - New orders for non-defense capital goods, a proxy for capital spending, increased by 0.8%, matching the previous month's performance, indicating stable investment trends [3] - Shipments also saw a slight improvement, rising to 1%, the strongest reading since early last year, suggesting positive momentum in manufacturing [4] - Overall, the data reflects a mixed but cautiously optimistic outlook for the manufacturing sector, with some signs of buying pressure emerging [4]