WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods rebounded marginally in October while business spending on equipment appeared to have softened early in the fourth quarter.

Factory orders increased 0.2% after a revised 0.2% fall in September, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders would rebound 0.2% after a previously reported 0.5% decline in September. Factory orders rose 0.4% on a year-on-year basis in October.

The government also reported that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, which are seen as a measure of business spending plans on equipment, fell 0.2% in October, as initially reported. Shipments of core capital goods increased 0.3% instead of rising 0.2%, as estimated last month. 

Nondefense capital goods orders increased 1.5% instead of 1.4%, as initially reported. Shipments of those goods declined 1.8% rather than by the initially estimated 1.9%. Weak shipments suggest softer business investment in equipment in the fourth quarter after two straight quarters of strong growth.