September factory orders up 0.2 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders at U.S. factories surprisingly rose 0.2 percent in September, boosted by gains in orders for machinery, computers and nondurable goods, a Commerce Department report showed on Friday.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting orders to decline 0.5 percent. August orders were revised to show a 3.5 percent slide instead of the 3.3 percent drop first reported.

September's 1.7 percent drop in durable goods orders was unchanged after the government's initial estimate last week.

At the same time, orders for nondurables, which include petroleum and plastics products, rose 2.1 percent, suggesting the impact of higher oil prices.

"It is mostly all price related," said Kevin Logan, an economist for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York.

"Energy prices have been up quite a lot lately so the orders reflect a nominal increase in the value rather than a real increase in the volume for the most part," Logan said.

Transportation equipment orders, the largest category of factory orders, fell 6.2 percent in September as motor vehicle bodies and parts orders dipped 1.1 percent and defense aircraft orders tumbled 37.2 percent. However, civilian aircraft orders expanded 18.1 percent.

Excluding transportation, factory orders rose 1.4 percent. When defense orders were stripped out, factory orders rose 1.3 percent.

Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for business spending, were revised to a 0.6 percent rise from gain of 0.4 percent.

Orders for metals, machinery, and computers and electronic products all rose in the month, reversing declines in August.

The inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged at 1.24 in September.