Japan Sept core machinery orders up 7.5 per cent on month

[TOKYO] Japan's core machinery orders rose 7.5 per cent in September for the first increase in four months, Cabinet Office data showed on Thursday, in an encouraging sign for capital expenditure.

Companies surveyed by the Cabinet Office forecast that core orders will rise 2.9 per cent in October-December from the previous quarter. Orders fell 10.0 per cent in July-September, marking the first decline in five quarters.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, fell 1.7 per cent in September.

REUTERS