TOKYO (XINHUA) – Japan’s core machinery orders logged the first drop in three months by falling a seasonally adjusted 2.9 per cent in April from the previous month, government data showed yesterday.
The total value of private-sector orders, excluding those for ships and power equipment, closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, came in at JPY886.3 billion (USD5.62 billion), said the Cabinet Office. Orders from manufacturers plunged 11.3 per cent month-on-month to JPY419.4 billion, while those from non-manufacturers gained 5.9 per cent to JPY475.3 billion, the data showed.
Core orders edged up by 0.7 per cent in April from a year earlier.
The Cabinet Office maintained its basic assessment that machinery orders are showing signs of picking up.
