Japan: Machinery orders contract for fourth consecutive month in October
Core machinery orders, a leading indicator for capital spending over the coming three- to six-month period, contracted for the fourth consecutive month in October.
Headline machinery orders (private sector, excluding volatile orders) declined 6.0% over the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms in October, down from the 2.9% drop in September and confounding market analyst expectations of a 0.9% increase.
Compared to the same month of the previous year, core machinery orders dropped 6.1% in October, contrasting September’s 5.1% increase. The annual average variation in core machinery orders swung to a 0.7% decrease in October from a 0.1% increase in September.