U.S. STOCKS INCH UP IN NOVEMBER

   By Dan Strumpf and Lisa Beilfuss

A drop in U.S. stocks curbed the market's November gains, leaving major indexes near where they began the month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 78.57 points, or 0.4%, on Monday to 17719.92, weighed down by losses in health-care and retail shares.

The S&P 500 index declined 9.70, or 0.5%, to 2080.41. The Nasdaq Composite declined 18.86, or 0.4%, to 5108.67.

The losses left major indexes barely clinging to positive territory for the month. Investors remain on hold amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December.

For November, the Dow rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 gained just 0.05%. The Nasdaq rose 1.1% for the month, buoyed by gains in the technology sector.

On Monday, shares of Nike and Wal-Mart Stores posted among the heaviest losses in the Dow. After rallying sharply in recent weeks, many retail shares lost ground as the holiday shopping season got under way. Nike lost $2.05, or 1.5%, to $132.28. Wal-Mart fell 1.05, or 1.8%, to 58.84. Those declines took more than 20 points off the blue-chip index.

"The concerns are warranted" regarding consumer spending this holiday season, said Michael Farr, president of Farr Miller & Washington. "The American consumer is resilient," he said, but consumers don't have a lot more money to spend.

Early signs of spending showed brick-and-mortar stores faced difficulties, with a National Retail Federation survey on Sunday showing more people shopped online than in stores during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Target lost 94 cents, or 1.3%, to 72.50 after the retailer reported its website had technical problems Monday morning. A Target spokesman said the retailer was restricting access to the site to manage heavy traffic.

Health-care shares also weighed down the broader market, led by a renewed slide in biotechnology stocks. The S&P 500 Health Care index skidded 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index lost 1.9%.

Monday's losses conclude what was a ho-hum month for stocks in November, marking a breather for investors following wild swings in the past few months. Stocks tumbled in August and September, only to recover sharply in October. In the past two months, the Dow has surged 8.8%, while the S&P is up 8.4%.

Later this week, investors will turn their focus to the November jobs report, scheduled for release Friday. The report is expected to show that U.S. employers added 205,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 5%, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Still, many analysts say the data are unlikely to change expectations for a rate increase by the Fed in December.

Anticipation of a rate rise also has driven up the U.S. dollar. The euro fell 0.3% against the dollar Monday to $1.0565. The single currency lost 4% against the greenback in November, its worst month since March. The British pound dipped below $1.50 intraday Monday for the first time since April 23 and closed at $1.5056.

The Fed's expected decision to tighten monetary policy stands in contrast to central-bank policies elsewhere. The European Central Bank, for example, is expected to cut interest rates deeper into negative territory this week as it battles to drive up ultralow inflation.

"Everybody is waiting for the ECB," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. "There are high expectations for a big day on Thursday."

The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.5% Monday, bouncing back from early losses. The index finished November with a gain of 2.7%.

In Asia early Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.5%, Australia's S&P ASX 200 was up 1.9%, South Korea's Kospi was up 1.2%, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.220%, from 2.222% on Friday, as prices rose.

The Chinese yuan pared gains against the dollar following the ​International Monetary Fund's decision to include the currency in its lending basket for reserve currencies,​but still gained 0.3% for the session, as one dollar bought 6.4246 yuan, or renminbi.​

In commodities, gold rose 0.9% to $1065.80 a troy ounce, but the metal dropped 6.6% for the month. Investors have sold the haven metal on expectations of higher fixed-income yields if the Fed raises interest rates.

Crude-oil futures eased 0.1% to $41.65 a barrel, but tumbled 11% in November as U.S. oil output remained resilient. 

U.S. STOCKS INCH HIGHER NOVEMBER

By Saumya Vaishampayan And Julie Wernau

Health-care shares helped U.S. stock indexes edge higher on Wednesday, the last full trading day of the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21 points, or 0.1%, to 17832. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%.

The U.S. stock market is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving Day and will close early on Friday.

Shares of Pfizer Inc. climbed 3.4% to $33.06, adding 7 points to the Dow as investors continued to digest the announcement that Pfizer and Allergan PLC had hatched a deal to combine in a $155 billion merger. Investors largely shrugged off news that Pfizer drug Lyrica had failed to reduce pain for sufferers of chronic nerve pain.

Consumer-discretionary stocks showed modest gains, up 0.3% as higher employment rates continued to translate into lackluster consumer spending.

"The data is relatively mixed," said Krishna Memani, chief investment officers at OppenheimerFunds. "I think people are happy that they have a job, but they are not happy enough or secure enough to go out and spend a lot."

Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 260,000 in the week ended Nov. 21, the Labor Department said, a healthy signal for the labor market. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 270,000 new claims. The report was released a day earlier than normal due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Separately, consumer spending rose just slightly in October while Americans stepped up their savings. Spending inched up 0.1% in October from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said. Economists had expected a 0.3% increase in spending last month.

Dan Farley, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank, which is overweight consumer discretionary stocks in relation to its benchmarks, said consumers may be spending less on retail but are spending more on "experiences," such as travel and home improvement.

"When you look forward to holiday sales, the data is murky," he said. "There's a lot of fire power there should the consumer want to turn around and spend."

The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 1.4%, retracing losses on Tuesday that followed reports that the Turkish military shot down a Russian jet fighter along the Syrian border.

Investors are looking past geopolitical tensions to focus on the prospect of further monetary stimulus--also known as quantitative easing, or QE--at the European Central Bank's meeting next week. Loose monetary policy has boosted stocks around the world in recent years.

"There is a strong likelihood the ECB is going to expand the QE package" and cut interest rates further, said Mike Bell, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, adding this should boost European stocks heading into year-end.

At the same time, investors continued to parse economic data and speeches from policy makers for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade. Fed officials focus on employment and inflation data as they decide when to raise rates.

Inflation as measured by the price index for personal consumption expenditures, the Fed's preferred gauge, remained below the central bank's 2% annual target for the 42nd month in a row.

Still, many investors say the U.S. economy has recovered enough for the central bank to begin lifting short-term rates.

"We continue to believe there's enough growth out there that we don't need emergency-level monetary policy," said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Trust, which manages $6.5 billion in assets.

Mr. Smith emphasized, however, that the central bank is likely to raise rates slowly, leaving monetary policy easy "for the foreseeable future." That's good for stocks, he added.

Mr. Smith said he bought shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron in September after a pullback in the energy sector. "Oil is not going to stay low forever," he added.

In commodity markets, U.S. crude-oil futures fell 0.8% to $42.52 a barrel. Gold prices fell 0.4% to $1,069.20 an ounce.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.237% from 2.243% on Tuesday. Yields fall as prices rise.

The euro fell against the dollar Wednesday on renewed expectations that quantitative easing could be more expansive. The euro was last at $1.0631, down 0.2% on the day. Easy-money policies tend to reduce the attractiveness of a currency to investors and boost government bonds prices.

Asian markets slipped slightly. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.4% lower, but the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9%.

Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com and Julie Wernau at Julie.Wernau@wsj.com 

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Slips In November

By Anna Louie Sussman

U.S. consumer confidence slipped at the end of November, suggesting retailers could face a challenging holiday season.

The University of Michigan final consumer sentiment index for November fell to 91.3 from a midmonth reading of 93.1. It was an increase from October's final reading of 90.0. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted the final November index would edge down slightly to 93.0.

Consumer sentiment is still near the past six months' average of 91.6, but Americans' spending habits haven't matched their rosy outlook. After more than a year of low gas prices and steady job creation, many areas of the retail market remain lackluster.

Wages have been slow to rise, and prices of necessities like medical care and shelter are climbing, eating up larger shares of workers' paychecks. Consumer sentiment is also sensitive to market gyrations: a tumbling stock market pushed the index to a 2015 low of 87.2 in September after reaching 96.1 in June.

"The data indicate that consumers have become increasingly aware of economic cross currents in the domestic as well as the global economy," said Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist.

A report from the Commerce Department released Wednesday showed U.S. consumers ratcheted up savings rather than spending in October. The personal saving rate climbed to 5.6% in October, the highest level since December 2012.

The slight advance from October's final reading was entirely due to lower income households, Mr. Curtin said. Households at the higher end of the income spectrum are more exposed to financial markets.

"Households with incomes in the top third of the distribution, who account for more than half of all spending, expressed a more cautious optimism," he said, reflecting "somewhat weaker personal financial prospects."

Still, the reading of 91.3 was 2.8% higher from November a year ago.

The expected change in inflation rates edged back up to 2.7% from a midmonth reading of 2.5%, which had been the lowest reading since January. Consumers said they expect inflation of 2.6% over the next five years.

Another gauge of consumer sentiment compiled by The Conference Board plunged to its lowest level in more than a year, the private research group said Tuesday.

That dive, combined with a fall in the "future expectations" component of the University of Michigan index, could portend a downward trajectory for consumer sentiment going forward.

"We see some risks for the Michigan index to drift lower over the next few months as the rising geopolitical tensions and fallout from the terrorist Paris attacks sap domestic consumer confidence," said Millan Mulraine, an economist at TD Securities USA, in a note to clients.

Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic output in the U.S. Retailers hoping that continued low gasoline prices and a robust job market will unleash spending have so far been disappointed.

Another report released Tuesday by the Commerce Department showed that overall consumer spending increased at a 3% rate in the third quarter, down from the second quarter's 3.6% pace. The recent gain was led by strong spending on long-lasting goods, like automobiles.

U.S. retail sales barely edged up in October after stalling for two months, the Commerce Department reported earlier this month. Consumer spending at retailers climbed just 1.7% since October 2014, compared with a 4.7% annual increase the year before, even though Americans have enjoyed cheap gasoline for more than a year.

"If consumers are not happy and healthy out in the marketplace spending on goods and services, particularly in the key holiday spending season, there is very little hope for sustaining the current status quo, let alone optimism to anticipate additional momentum from the U.S. economy in the near-term," said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Economics, in a note to clients.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s sales edged up slightly in the third quarter, but over half of its sales are groceries. Home Depot Inc. also had a strong third quarter, but retailers like Macy's Inc., Nordstrom Inc., and Dick's Sporting Goods reported weak third-quarter results.

The National Retail Federation predicts holiday sales will rise 3.7%, only slightly less than last year's 4.1% gain.

Write to Anna Louie Sussman at anna.sussman@wsj.com

U.S. NEW HOME SALES

Seasonally adjusted levels (except actual level, which is not

seasonally adjusted) and percent changes for houses sold by region

in thousands during period. Prices in millions of dollars. Previous

months are subject to revision. A-denotes ratio of houses for sale

to houses sold. Source: U.S. Commerce Department.

                                         Month

Month/                                   supplyActual        Median Average

Year   Total% chg    NE    MW South  West rate/ Total % chg   Price   Price

-2015-

 Oct     495 10.7    40    60   281   114   5.5    41  20.6   281.5   366.0

 Sep     447-12.9    17    57   258   115   6.0    34 -19.0   307.8   369.6

 Aug     513  2.6    32    59   297   125   5.1    42  -2.3   294.6   345.3

 Jul     500  6.6    28    62   286   124   5.2    43  -2.3   296.0   341.9

 Jun     469 -8.6    26    59   264   120   5.6    44  -6.4   289.2   329.3

 May     513  1.0    27    60   290   136   4.9    47  -2.1   287.4   340.8

 Apr     508  4.7    13    66   304   125   4.9    48   4.3   292.7   334.7

 Mar     485-11.0    20    58   272   135   5.1    46   2.2   293.4   352.7

 Feb     545  4.6    26    54   328   137   4.5    45  15.4   293.9   355.9

 Jan     521  5.3    15    65   296   145   4.8    39  11.4   292.0   356.0

-2014-

 Dec     495 10.2    31    54   273   137   5.1    35  12.9   302.0   373.5

 Nov     449 -4.9    29    59   232   129   5.6    31 -18.4   302.7   358.8

 Oct     472  2.8    25    63   267   117   5.3    38   2.7   299.4   384.0

 Sep     459  1.1    30    60   253   116   5.5    37   2.8   261.5   319.1

 Aug     454 12.7    29    52   250   123   5.4    36   2.9   291.7   356.2

 Jul     403 -1.2    23    54   228    98   6.1    35  -7.9   280.4   345.2

 Jun     408-10.7    26    53   228   101   5.8    38 -11.6   287.0   338.1

 May     457 11.5    38    75   234   110   5.1    43   0.0   285.6   323.5

 Apr     410  0.0    21    65   231    93   5.6    43   2.4   274.5   325.1

 Mar     410 -1.7    26    57   237    90   5.6    42   2.4   282.3   331.5

 Feb     417 -6.5    21    56   249    91   5.4    41   0.0   268.4   325.9

 Jan     446  1.1    33    51   248   114   5.1    41   2.5   269.8   337.3

-2013-

 Dec     441 -1.1    23    61   252   105   5.1    40   5.3   275.5   321.2

 Nov     446  0.5    31    58   246   111   5.0    38   0.0   277.1   335.6

 Oct     444 11.3    31    64   261    88   4.9    38   2.7   264.3   335.7

 Sep     399  5.0    24    60   222    93   5.5    37   5.7   269.8   321.4

 Aug     380  1.1    31    59   209    81   5.5    35   6.1   255.3   310.8

 Jul     376-18.8    31    53   196    96   5.4    33   6.5   262.2   329.9

 Jun     463  7.7    34    57   255   117   4.1    31   0.0   259.8   306.1

 May     430 -4.7    27    69   236    98   4.5    31   0.0   263.7   314.0

 Apr     451  0.4    31    61   258    98   4.3    31   3.3   279.3   337.0

 Mar     449  2.3    37    62   238   109   4.1    30   0.0   257.5   300.2

 Feb     439 -0.7    36    68   204   134   4.2    30   0.0   265.1   312.5

 Jan     442 10.8    31    57   219   142   4.0    30   7.1   251.5   306.9

-2012-

 Dec     399  1.8    30    48   222    99   4.5    28   0.0   258.3   299.2

 Nov     392  9.5    32    44   221    95   4.6    28  -3.4   245.0   290.7

 Oct     358 -7.0    25    51   175   107   4.9    29  -3.3   247.2   285.4

 Sep     385  2.7    37    35   214    99   4.5    30  -3.2   254.6   297.7

 Aug     375  1.6    27    54   187   107   4.6    31  -6.1   253.2   305.5

 Jul     369  2.5    31    56   180   102   4.6    33  -2.9   237.4   282.3

 Jun     360 -2.7    16    49   188   107   4.8    34  -2.9   232.6   271.8

 May     370  4.5    36    45   191    98   4.7    35   2.9   239.2   280.9

 Apr     354  0.0    29    49   181    95   4.9    34   0.0   236.4   287.9

 Mar     354 -3.3    32    42   200    80   4.9    34  13.3   239.8   283.6

 Feb     366  9.3    27    50   196    93   4.8    30  30.4   239.9   274.0

 Jan     335 -1.8    24    44   190    77   5.3    23  -4.2   221.7   265.7

-2011-

 Dec     341  4.0    20    58   178    85   5.3    24   4.3   218.6   262.9

 Nov     328  3.8    16    54   182    76   5.7    23  -8.0   214.3   250.0

 Oct     316  3.9    19    50   165    82   6.0    25   4.2   224.8   258.3

 Sep     304  1.7    19    48   170    67   6.3    24  -4.0   217.0   255.4

 Aug     299  1.0    24    48   163    64   6.5    25  -7.4   219.6   259.3

 Jul     296 -1.7    23    44   167    62   6.7    27  -3.6   229.9   270.3

 Jun     301 -1.3    16    46   170    69   6.6    28   0.0   240.2   273.1

 May     305 -1.6    18    41   173    73   6.6    28  -6.7   222.0   262.7

 Apr     310  3.3    25    41   166    78   6.7    30   7.1   224.7   268.9

 Mar     300 11.1    23    40   164    73   7.2    28  27.3   220.5   260.8

 Feb     270-12.1    18    30   162    60   8.1    22   4.8   220.1   262.8

 Jan     307 -5.8    33    42   158    74   7.3    21  -8.7   240.1   275.7

-2010-

 Dec     326 13.6    22    36   168   100   7.0    23  15.0   241.2   291.7

 Nov     287 -1.4    22    34   162    69   8.2    20 -13.0   219.6   281.7

 Oct     291 -8.2    31    39   172    49   8.2    23  -8.0   204.2   254.4

 Sep     317 12.4    36    50   162    69   7.6    25   8.7   228.0   270.8

 Aug     282 -0.4    30    31   153    68   8.8    23 -11.5   226.6   268.8

 Jul     283 -7.2    28    43   167    45   8.9    26  -7.1   212.1   252.1

 Jun     305  8.9    34    45   170    56   8.3    28   7.7   219.5   256.7

 May     280-33.6    28    41   149    62   9.3    26 -36.6   230.5   281.1

 Apr     422 10.8    34    55   231   102   6.2    41  13.9   208.3   270.5

 Mar     381 13.4    32    55   199    95   7.1    36  33.3   224.8   262.9

 Feb     336 -2.9    31    51   166    88   8.3    27  12.5   221.9   284.1

 Jan     346 -1.7    40    54   171    80   8.1    24   0.0   218.2   283.4

-2009-

 Dec     352 -6.1    39    50   182    81   8.0    24  -7.7   222.6   278.3

 Nov     375 -5.3    33    73   191    78   7.6    26 -21.2   218.8   274.7

 Oct     396  2.6    32    54   215    95   7.4    33  10.0   215.1   263.8

 Sep     386 -7.7    35    63   192    96   7.8    30 -16.7   216.6   290.3

 Aug     418  1.7    36    56   218   108   7.5    36  -5.3   207.1   257.8

 Jul     411  4.6    42    57   215    97   7.9    38   2.7   214.2   271.1

 Jun     393  4.5    34    58   195   106   8.5    37   8.8   214.7   274.8

 May     376 11.6    26    50   210    90   9.3    34   6.3   222.3   274.6

 Apr     337 -0.6    20    39   201    77  10.7    32   3.2   219.2   269.8

 Mar     339 -8.9    21    45   198    75  11.0    31   6.9   205.1   259.8

 Feb     372 10.7    31    53   217    71  10.5    29  20.8   209.7   258.6

 Jan     336-10.9    28    52   186    70  12.2    24  -7.7   208.6   245.2

-2008-

 Dec     377 -3.1    30    60   192    95  11.2    26  -3.7   229.6   263.1

 Nov     389 -1.0    39    54   207    89  11.4    27 -15.6   221.6   290.1

 Oct     393 -9.2    35    64   210    84  11.6    32  -8.6   213.2   274.0

 Sep     433 -0.5    25    62   246   100  10.9    35  -7.9   225.2   287.1

 Aug     435 -8.8    28    71   246    90  11.3    38 -11.6   221.0   265.5

 Jul     477 -2.1    39    65   257   116  10.5    43  -4.4   237.3   301.9

 Jun     487 -3.4    34    68   274   111  10.7    45  -8.2   234.3   299.4

 May     504 -6.0    31    73   286   114  10.7    49   0.0   229.3   298.2

 Apr     536  0.2    40    82   287   127  10.3    49   0.0   246.4   314.3

 Mar     535 -9.8    30    75   306   124  10.5    49   2.1   229.3   287.6

 Feb     593 -5.4    43    79   324   147   9.7    48   9.1   245.3   301.2

 Jan     627  1.3    50    78   342   157   9.3    44   0.0   232.4   284.6

-2007-

 Dec     619 -3.4    54    76   354   135   9.6    44  -2.2   227.7   284.0

 Nov     641-11.8    52    90   349   150   9.4    45 -21.1   249.1   316.8

 Oct     727  6.0    62   127   386   152   8.5    57   7.5   234.3   310.1

 Sep     686 -1.9    63   102   350   171   9.2    53 -11.7   240.3   292.2

 Aug     699-10.2    59   118   362   160   9.2    60 -11.8   236.5   301.3

 Jul     778 -1.9    48   105   415   210   8.3    68  -6.8   246.2   307.1

 Jun     793 -5.8    65   113   440   175   8.2    73  -7.6   235.5   306.5

 May     842 -5.1    83   139   420   200   7.8    79  -4.8   245.0   309.7

 Apr     887  6.5    85   121   475   206   7.4    83   3.8   242.5   311.7

 Mar     833  0.6    88   130   413   202   7.9    80  17.6   262.6   329.4

 Feb     828 -7.1    50   128   445   205   7.9    68   3.0   250.8   321.5

 Jan     891-10.7    60   165   496   170   7.2    66  -7.0   254.4   314.6

-2006-

 Dec     998 -0.5    73   166   510   249   6.5    71   0.0   244.7   301.9

 Nov   1,003  6.6    66   155   545   237   6.6    71  -4.1   240.1   291.8

 Oct     941 -7.4    38   136   517   250   7.3    74  -7.5   250.4   306.8

 Sep   1,016 -1.8    62   141   562   251   6.7    80  -9.1   226.7   296.2

 Aug   1,035  7.3    88   152   577   218   6.7    88   6.0   243.9   317.3

 Jul     965-10.1    63   140   499   263   7.3    83 -15.3   238.1   311.3

 Jun   1,074 -1.1    63   172   561   278   6.3    98  -3.9   243.2   305.0

 May   1,086 -3.3    65   177   581   263   6.2   102   2.0   238.2   293.9

 Apr   1,123  0.6    56   168   609   290   6.3   100  -7.4   257.0   310.3

 Mar   1,116  5.2    59   168   584   305   5.9   108  22.7   238.8   298.8

 Feb   1,061 -9.6    65   187   562   247   6.1    88  -1.1   250.8   307.9

 Jan   1,174 -5.2    65   174   600   335   5.3    89   2.3   244.9   301.0

-2005-

 Dec   1,239  2.1    69   201   644   325   4.9    87   1.2   238.6   290.2

 Nov   1,214 -9.1    85   171   636   322   5.0    86 -18.1   237.9   294.4

 Oct   1,336  7.4    78   186   668   404   4.5   105   6.1   243.9   293.6

 Sep   1,244 -0.9    62   215   643   324   4.7    99 -10.0   240.4   299.6

 Aug   1,255 -9.6    80   195   628   352   4.5   110  -6.0   240.1   295.0

 Jul   1,389  9.0   100   208   645   436   4.2   117   1.7   229.2   289.3 

U.S. DURABLE ORDERS CLIMB 3%

By Eric Morath

WASHINGTON--Orders for long-lasting goods rose in October, a gain that represents a big jump in the volatile aircraft category and a modest pickup elsewhere.

New orders for durable goods--refrigerators, combines and other products designed to last at least three years-- increased a seasonally adjusted 3% in October from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Through the first 10 months of the year, durable-goods orders were down 4.2% compared with the same period in 2014.

The trends "point to ongoing business-investment sluggishness as global headwinds and low oil prices continue to weigh on activity," said Gregory Daco, economist at Oxford Economics.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected overall orders to increase by 1.8% in October. September durable-goods orders were revised to a 0.8% decrease from the previously estimated drop of 1.2%.

Through the first 10 months of the year, durable-goods orders were down 4.2% compared with the same period in 2014. The downturn reflects curtailed demand due to low oil prices, a strong dollar and slow overseas growth.

In October, orders for nondefense aircraft rose 81% to bolster the overall reading. Boeing Co., the nation's largest aerospace firm, said orders for passenger jets doubled last month compared with September, on a nonseasonally adjusted basis.

Orders for motor vehicles and parts--which had been a bright spot among lackluster manufacturing figures this year--fell 2.9% in October.

Excluding transportation, durable-goods orders were up a more-modest 0.5% last month, though the gain was the best since June. Orders outside of transportation were down 2.7% through the first 10 months of the year.

Excluding defense, another volatile sector, durable orders were up 3.2% last month, but down 4% so far this year. Defense orders increased 1% in October.

A key measure of business investment rose in October. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft--a proxy for company spending on equipment--increased 1.3% in October. The figure was down 3.8% through the first 10 months of the year.

Business investment peaked in September 2014 but has since trended lower, in part reflecting a hefty drop in spending on oil- and gas-field machinery. Orders for railroad equipment, another category tied to oil and gas production, and farm equipment have also slumped this year.

A stronger U.S. dollar and weak overseas demand may have also constrained sales, but better demand this month might suggest the effect is fading. Orders for machinery and computers increased last month. The stronger dollar makes U.S. products more expensive abroad and foreign goods cheaper at home.

"Drag from imports and exports should begin to wane as 2016 progresses, but it will be better like hitting one's finger less frequently with a hammer is, rather than 'happy days are here again,'" said IHS Global Insight economist Michael Montgomery.

Other measures of manufacturing have been mixed recently. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers index barely remained in expansion territory last month. But the manufacturing component of the Federal Reserve's industrial production index increased 0.4% in October, the best gain since July.

Manufacturing represents a fairly small slice of the overall U.S. economy, but the category is closely watched for the signals it sends about broader demand. With the global economy uneven, U.S. factories need to sell products to domestic customers. In a potentially worrying sign, consumer spending slowed in October despite solid income gains, according to a separate Commerce report.