Surprise gain for Japan's machinery orders
Japanese machinery orders jumped more than 10 percent in August, vastly beating expectations thanks to resilient private demand despite the punishing effects of a strong yen and deflation.
The increase in core orders, which exclude volatile demand from power companies and for ships, was a positive sign for an export-driven economy that has shown increasing signs of slowing down recently, said analysts.
Core private-sector machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, rose 10.1 percent from July, compared with forecasts for a 4.5 percent fall according to a joint Dow Jones-Nikkei poll.
It was the third consecutive monthly rise, after an 8.8 percent increase in July and a 1.6 percent rise in June, prompting the government to upgrade its assessment to say orders are "picking up".
The data suggested companies were "adjusting their economic outlook from an excessively pessimistic view", Tatsushi Shikano, senior economist in Tokyo at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
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