N.American chip equipment orders down in April

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 (Reuters) - North American manufacturers of equipment used to make microchips reported orders of $1.07 billion in April, down 8 percent from the previous month, industry data showed on Tuesday.

The book-to-bill ratio was 0.81 in April, meaning $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product shipped, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International said in a preliminary report. (Reporting by Scott Hillis)