Japan’s core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent in July from the previous month, for the second consecutive month of growth, supported by a rebound in the manufacturing sector, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday.
Close observation is needed to determine whether the trend will continue, a Cabinet Office representative said during a briefing session on the government data, citing further possible downturns in overseas markets as a risk factor to the Japanese economy.
The office maintained its assessment on the key gauge of companies’ capital investment appetite, saying machinery orders were “seesawing.”
The core orders, which exclude those normally seen as volatile such as orders for ships and those from electric utilities, were valued at 742.1 billion yen in July.
On prospects, Kenta Ishizu, market economist at Mizuho Securities Co., said it is hard to expect the core orders to recover to near 800 billion yen in coming months due to weak overseas demand.
via Mainichi
