Japan’s core machinery orders rose 9.3 per cent in November from the previous month for the second straight month of increase, the government said on Thursday.
The figure was far better than the 1.2-per-cent increase predicted by analysts surveyed by the Nikkei business daily and followed a 0.6-per-cent rise in October.
Core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude volatile categories such as ships and utilities, grew to ¥882.6 billion ($8.49 billion), the Cabinet Office said.
The office maintained its basic assessment, saying that machinery orders “demonstrate an upward trend.” The statistic is seen as an indicator of future corporate capital spending.
Overseas demand, an indicator of future exports, plunged 12.2 per cent to ¥775 billion for the second consecutive month of fall.