ISTANBUL

US durable goods orders declined 6.6% in June, falling after four consecutive months of gains, according to a report released Thursday by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau.

New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased $18.6 billion to $264.5 billion, it said in a statement.

The market estimate was for the figure to show a monthly increase of 0.3%.

The figure for May, meanwhile, was unrevised at a gain of 0.1% for $283.1 billion.

Excluding transportation, new orders in June increased by 0.5%, the Census Bureau said, but new orders plummeted 7% when excluding defense.

"Transportation equipment, down two of the last three months, drove the decrease, $19.6 billion or 20.5 percent to $75.8 billion," the statement said.