Japan's core machinery orders fall 7.6% in June

[TOKYO] Japan's core machinery orders fell 7.6 per cent in June from the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday, dashing hopes the economy will emerge from the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The decrease in core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, compared with a 2.0 per cent gain forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, the Cabinet Office data showed.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those for ships and electricity, were down 22.5 per cent in June, versus a 17.6 per cent drop seen by economists, it showed.

REUTERS