Japan's July core machinery orders down 3.6% month on month

[TOKYO] Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly fell 3.6 per cent in July from the previous month, Cabinet Office data showed on Thursday, down for a second straight month and casting doubt about the strength of capital expenditures.

The month-on-month 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 a 3.7 per cent increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those of ships and electric power utilities, increased 2.8 per cent in July, versus a 10.5 per cent annual gain expected.

REUTERS