Japan machinery orders down sharply in June

Tokyo

JAPAN'S core machinery orders in June tumbled the most in over a year, adding to fears of an economic contraction in the second quarter as exports slumped and consumer spending slackened.

The 7.9 per cent fall in the key gauge of capital spending followed a recent run of soft indicators - including exports and factory output - which led analysts to forecast a second-quarter contraction when economic growth figures come out on Aug 17.