Feb factory orders +1.2%, below the +1.7%...>

US DATA: Feb factory orders +1.2%, below the +1.7% exp, with durable 

goods orders rev down slightly to +3.0%. Nondurable goods orders -0.5% 

on petro and coal products. 

- Excluding the +7.0% jump in transportation orders, factory orders 

would have been +0.1%, well below the +1.3% exp. 

- Nondefense capital goods new orders +4.3%, and +1.4% ex aircraft.    

- Total factory shipments were +0.2% in Feb, with nondefense capital 

goods shipments +1.3%, and +1.4% ex aircraft.

- Factory inventories +0.3%, so combined with the advance estimates 

for retail (+0.4%) and wholesale inventories (+1.1%), this would result 

in +0.6% for business inventories.