US demand down but confidence up

Demand for US-made capital goods recorded its biggest drop in eight months in September and the pace of house price gains moderated in August, suggesting some cooling in economic growth in the third quarter. However, other data yesterday showed that consumer confidence had jumped to a seven-year high this month. Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 1.7 percent last month, the Commerce Department said. – Reuters