Japan Oct core machinery orders up 10.7% on month: govt

[TOKYO] Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly rose 10.7 per cent in October, posting a second straight month of gains, government data showed on Wednesday, in a sign of a delayed pickup in business investment.

The rise in core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, compared with economists' median estimate of a 1.5 per cent drop in a Reuters poll, Cabinet Office data showed.

That followed a 7.5 per cent gain in September, which was the first month-on-month increase in four months.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those of ships and electricity, increased 10.3 per cent in October, versus a 1.4 per cent annual rise seen by analysts.

REUTERS