This Morning in Metals: U.S. goods and services deficit ticks up in May

This morning in metals news: the U.S. goods and services deficit rose by $2.2 billion in May; meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods rose in May; and, lastly, Ford Motor Co. released its June sales results.
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US goods and services deficit increases in May

New orders for manufactured goods increase

Meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods increased in May, the Census Bureau also reported.
New orders have increased in 12 of the last 13 months. In May, new orders for manufactured goods rose by 1.7% to $495.5 billion.
In April, new orders had dipped by 0.1%.

Ford releases June US sales results

Ford Motor Co. reported June retail sales in the U.S. fell by 32.5% year over year.
Total sales reached 115,789 vehicles, or down 26.9% year over year.
Retail truck sales fell 34.4%, while SUV sales dropped 17.8%.
Albeit from still lower volumes, Ford touted another increase in electric vehicle sales.
“Ford sales of electrified vehicles expanded 117 percent in June, capping off a new first-half sales record on sales of 56,570 vehicles,” the automaker said. “That’s a new all-time sales record driven by new products. Mustang Mach-E sales totaled 12,975 vehicles, while F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid added an additional 17,039 vehicles to the total. Escape Hybrid and Escape Plug-in Hybrid sales totaled 15,642 – up 45.9 percent over last year.”
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