Japan Core Machinery Orders Up 7.0 Pct in Oct.

Tokyo, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in October rose 7.0 pct from the previous month, up for the second consecutive month, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday. Private-sector orders excluding those for ships and power equipment, closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, came to 992.9 billion yen. The government agency raised its basic assessment for the first time in 11 months, saying that machinery orders are showing signs of picking up. For September, the Cabinet Office said that the pickup in machinery orders was at a standstill. Of the total core orders in October, orders from nonmanufacturers grew 28.8 pct to 551.7 billion yen, the first increase in four months, driven by large-scale orders for railroad cars and orders related to digital investments by the information service and other sectors. Meanwhile, orders from manufacturers stood at 446.5 billion yen, down 13.3 pct from September, when there was a large-scale order from the chemical industry. Orders from automotive sectors went up but “have not returned to the level seen early this year, before the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariff policy,” a Cabinet Office official said. Overall machinery orders, including those from the public sector and abroad, dropped 6.8 pct to 3,089.9 billion yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]