Capex falls for fourth straight month in Dec on weak orders

Washington

A GAUGE of US business investment plans fell for a fourth straight month in December, a potential sign that slowing global growth and falling crude oil prices were starting to have an impact on the economy.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 0.6 per cent last month after a similar decline in November.

Economists polled by Reuters had for…