[TOKYO] Japan's core machinery orders fell 12.0 per cent in April from the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday.

The fall in core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, compared with the median estimate of an 8.6 per cent drop in a Reuters poll of economists.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those of ships and electricity, dropped 17.7 per cent in April, versus a 14.0 per cent decline seen by economists, the Cabinet Office data showed.

REUTERS