Japan’s Core Machinery Orders Rise 13.6 Pct in Feb.

Tokyo, April 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in February rose 13.6 pct from the previous month, driven by large-scale orders worth more than 10 billion yen each, Cabinet Office data showed Wednesday. The private-sector orders excluding those for ships and equipment used at power companies, closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, came to 1,115.9 billion yen, the largest single-month figure since comparable data became available in April 2005. The government agency kept its basic assessment unchanged, saying that machinery orders are showing signs of picking up. Takeshi Minami of Norinchukin Research Institute Co. expressed concern, however, saying, “Appetite for corporate capital spending would shrink rapidly unless signs of the Middle East situation calming down emerge in the coming months.” Orders from manufacturers surged 30.7 pct to 569.5 billion yen. Core orders from nonmanufacturers increased 0.9 pct to 568.4 billion yen. There were large-scale orders linked to nuclear power and gas plants. Total machinery orders, including those from the public sector and abroad, declined 5.0 pct to 3,744.3 billion yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]