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Companies signed up for $7.7 billion in new loans, leases and
lines of credit last month, the Washington-based trade group
said on Friday.
Still, total new borrowings in the first eight months of 2016
were down 6 percent compared with the same period a year
earlier, said ELFA, which reports economic activity for the $1
trillion U.S. equipment finance industry.
"Taking together the (U.S. Federal Reserve's) September decision
to stay put on interest rates and the approaching presidential
election, the sector continues to give no clear indication about
where it's headed," ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta said in a
statement.
In August, credit approvals rose to 76.9 percent of all
applications submitted from 75.9 percent in July, ELFA said.
ELFA's leasing and finance index measures the volume of
commercial equipment financed in the United States. It is
designed to complement the U.S. Commerce Department's durable
goods orders report, which it precedes by a few days.
The index is based on a survey of 25 lenders that include Bank
of America Corp, BB&T Corp, CIT Group Inc and the financing
affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc, Deere & Co, Siemens AG
and Volvo AB.
Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA's
non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index fell to 53.8 for
September from 54.8 for August.
The index is an indicator of the outlook for the equipment
finance market, with a reading above 50 suggesting a positive
outlook.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
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