The Commerce Department’s most recent durable goods report showed that new orders fell 0.5 percent in April, led by a decline in transportion as Boeing reported only 58 airplane orders during the month, down from 99 in March. Indeed, excluding this factor, durable goods orders actually jumped 2.5 percent, the sharpest gain in 9 months. A further breakdown of the index shows that business investment - as measured by capital goods orders excluding defense and aircraft - rebounded 4.2 percent following three consecutive months of declines, suggesting that companies feel a bit more confident about conditions down the road. Also contributing to the gain in orders excluding transportion was defense spending (+4.8 percent) and electrical equipment (+27.8 percent). The news has led the US dollar to rally, as the data will only add to speculation that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged at 2.00 percent when they meet again in June. – Terri Belkas, Currency Analyst for DailyFX.com