US Business Capex Shipments Hit Record High

Shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, the Census Bureau's proxy for US business investment, hit a seasonally adjusted record of $86.1 billion in September, up from $85.0 billion in August. On an unadjusted basis, shipments were up 11.2% from a year earlier, according to the Advance Durable Goods Report released October 27. The jump lines up with the AI-driven buildout of servers and computing infrastructure across corporate balance sheets, a theme reflected in $XLK's run this year. Capex is accelerating even as hiring and consumer spending cool elsewhere in the economy.