Friday's Events: U.S. Durable Goods, New Home Sales, G7 Meets in Washington

U.S. durable goods and new home sales are the main economic data releases of the day, as the G7 finance ministers meet in Washington D.C.

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Department of Commerce will release its March durable goods report. Economists expect a 1.5% month-over-month decline after February's 3.5% gain. Durable goods excluding transportation are expected to fall 1.3% on the month compared to the prior 3.7% rise. Non-defence capital goods are expected to decline 1.5% versus the previous 7.1% rise.

At 9:30 a.m. EDT, Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen will speak on the financial crisis at the European Institute in Washington, D.C.

At 10 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Department of Commerce will release March new home Sales. Economists expect new home sales to come in at 337k, matching February's result. New home sales rose 4.7% in February.

The G7 meetings kick off in Washington D.C. with most of the commentary ahead of the meeting pointing to the Group reinforcing its message of a global commitment to fight the financial crisis. At 4:30 p.m. EDT, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will deliver his post-G7 press conference.

On the earnings front, Ford reported a Q1 loss per share excluding items of $0.75, far better than the $1.24 loss expected by the Street; says it has enough capital to weather crisis. Shares up 0.89% ahead of the bell. Honeywell reported a Q1 earnings per share of $0.54 versus expectations of a $0.55 per share gain. Shares up 3.83% ahead of the bell.

8:30 US Durable Goods Orders March Exp: -1.5% Prior: +3.5%

8:30 US Durables Ex Transportation March Exp: -1.3% Prior: +3.7%

10:00 US New Home Sales March Exp: +337K Prior: +337K

10:00 US New Home Sales (M/M) March Exp: +0.0% Prior: +4.7%

16:30 US Treasury's Geithner to Speak after Hosting G7 Finance Ministers

By Erik Kevin Franco and edited by Stephen Huebl
©CEP News Ltd. 2009