Japan's Machinery Orders Jump 10.8%

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a closely watched indicator of capital spending, jumped by a much bigger than expected 10.8% in April, official figures showed June 9.

Year-on-year, core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude particularly volatile demand from electric utilities and for ships, were up 12.2 % in April, the Cabinet Office said. The market had anticipated on average a month-on-month rise of about 3.7%.

Rising spending by companies on plant and equipment is playing a key role in Japan's economic recovery and the figures are closely watched by investors although they tend to fluctuate sharply from month-to-month.

Machinery orders placed by the manufacturing sector in April rose 8.0% month-on-month and were up 5.4% from a year earlier.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006