Japan March core machinery orders -8.3 pct m/m

Posted by Admin
Wed May 14 20:08:56 PDT 2008

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, fell 8.3 percent in March, below economists' consensus forecast for a 5.5 percent drop, government data showed on Thursday. [JPMORD=ECI]

Manufacturers surveyed by the Cabinet Office forecast that core orders, a highly volatile series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, would show a 10.2 percent fall in the April-June quarter from the previous quarter.

In January-March, core orders, which exclude those for ships and machinery at electric power firms, rose 2.2 percent from the previous three months.

Compared with a year earlier, orders in March decreased 6.2 percent, against a median forecast of a 0.4 percent rise.

Some historical figures were revised as the Cabinet Office revised its seasonal adjustment calculation method.

(Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Provided by  Reuters

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