US business equipment borrowings fell 7% in March, ELFA says
22/04/2024 20:00
April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 7% less to
finance equipment investments in March compared to a year ago,
industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)
said on Monday.
Companies signed up for new loans, leases and lines of
credit worth $9.3 billion in March, up 18% sequentially.
"Equipment and software investment should pick up in the
latter part of the year when the Fed is expected to begin its
rate cuts," ELFA President and CEO Leigh Lytle said.
ELFA, which reports economic activity for the over $1
trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals for
U.S. companies in January came in at 77%, up from 76% a month
earlier.
ELFA's leasing and finance index is based on a 25-member
survey, including Bank of America BAC.N and financing units of
Caterpillar CAT.N , Dell Technologies DELL.N , Siemens AG
SIEGn.DE , Canon Inc 7751.T and Volvo AB VOLVb.ST .
The Washington-based organisation's non-profit affiliate,
the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, said its confidence
index for April stood at 52.9, down from 55.2 in March. A
reading above 50 indicates a positive business outlook.
(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim
Zahid)
((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))