INSTANT VIEW 2: Durable goods orders up 0.1 in November

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting U.S.-made manufactured goods rose by a much less-than-forecast 0.1 percent during November and a key gauge of corporate appetite for investment also unexpectedly shrank.

Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, declined 0.4 percent after falling 2.9 percent in October, the Commerce Department said, pointing to cooler fourth quarter economic activity.

Separately, around the same time the economic data was released, the Pakistani opposition party said their leader Benazir Bhutto was killed on Thursday. The attack and death impacted markets, with U.S. stock futures falling.

COMMENTS:

ADAM YORK, ECONOMIC ANALYST, WACHOVIA SECURITIES, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA:

DURABLE GOODS: "Businesses remain fairly cautious in the fourth quarter. Non-defense capital orders ex-aircraft are down for a second straight month here. We are going to see weak investment in the fourth quarter, but we have been expecting that. But nothing sticks out as horrible. Inventories rose fairly well here so that could be an offset here."

JOBLESS CLAIMS: "It's a volatile series and we are already in the holiday season. The four-week average which smooths out the weekly spikes is sitting fairly steady here. These are not levels that will lead us into a recession. This is consistent with slow but consistent payroll growth."

JANE CARON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF ECONOMIC STRATEGIST, DWIGHT ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY, BURLINGTON, VERMONT:

"The durable goods report was certainly disappointing compared to expectations. Non-defense capital goods ex-aircraft, a proxy for business spending, fell 0.4 percent in November following a 2.9 percent drop the previous month.

"Durable goods were weaker than expected, jobless claims came in higher than expected for the latest week; both disappointments."

MATTHEW STRAUSS, FOREIGN EXCHANGE STRATEGIST, RBC CAPITAL, TORONTO:

"Durable goods orders is a quite a volatile report, but nonetheless, last month's figures were well below expectations and that, combined with some other weak reports earlier this week, is having a negative impact on the dollar. People were looking for excuses to buy dollars, but the data is not supportive."

JOSEPH BRUSUELAS, CHIEF U.S. ECONOMIST, IDEA GLOBAL, NEW YORK:

"The report does reinforce the notion that there's less demand for durable goods. Shipments of non-defense capital goods ex-aircraft, a proxy for business spending, were up 0.2 percent month-over-month and up 1.6 percent year-over-year. The report suggests a weak print for fourth-quarter GDP."

MICHELLE MEYER, ECONOMIST, LEHMAN BROTHERS, NEW YORK:

DURABLE GOODS: "If you look at the core measure, which is non-defense capital orders ex-aircraft, it's down 0.4 percent and the October number was revised lower. It's certainly weaker than expected."