After the Federal Reserve, several other central banks, including the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank, and the Norges Bank, will announce their decisions on monetary policy.
The manufacturing sector, buoyed by a jump in spending on goods in the third quarter, is increasingly feeling the strain of higher interest rates and adds to signs the economy will more meaningfully slow in the fourth quarter. Orders for durable goods fell 5.4%, with orders for transportation equipment slumping 14.7%.
Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell more than expected in October as orders for motor vehicles and parts dropped amid strikes by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union against Detroit's "Big Three" automakers. The Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Wednesday that orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft meant to last three years or more, dropped 5.4% last month, also weighed down by declines in bookings for civilian aircraft. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast durable goods orders would decline 3.1%.