US GDP tracker update: revised up - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura offered their GDP tracking update.

Key Quotes:

"While the trade balance narrowed as we expected in March, imports of capital goods excluding autos came in a little stronger than our expectations."

"This suggests more domestic equipment investment. As a result, we revised up slightly our Q1 GDP tracking estimate by one-tenth of a percent to 2.4%, from 2.3% previously."

"Reflecting incoming data so far, our tracking model indicates 3.1% q-o-q saar growth in Q2 real GDP."

"This is consistent with our current outlook — we have been expecting about 3% growth in Q2 and even stronger growth in Q3 owing largely to fiscal policy."

"We expect a solid boost from personal consumption expenditures and nonresidential fixed investment. Further, government spending will likely pick up and contribute firmly to GDP growth."