US factory orders dropped unexpectedly in April. On a monthly basis, factory orders fell by 0.6% M/M, while the consensus was looking for a marginal increase (by 0.2% M/M). The previous figure was also sharply downwardly revised, from -1.5% M/M to -2.1% M/M. The breakdown shows that durable goods orders stabilized in April, mainly due to weakness in transportation. Nondurable shipments, on the contrary, fell by 1.1% M/M, after already a 0.87% M/M decline in March. The second consecutive decline in US factory orders suggests that also the US is not immune for the economic slowdown in Europe and Asia, providing further evidence that also the US economy is losing momentum.