Japan: Machinery orders rebound strongly in June
Core machinery orders, a leading indicator for capital spending over a three- to six-month period, posted the fastest expansion since January 2003 in June, suggesting that capital expenditure will remain resilient in the coming months. Headline machinery orders (private sector, excluding volatile orders) rose 13.9% over the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms in June, contrasting the 7.8% decrease in May. The print overshot the 1.3% decrease expected by market analysts.
Overall non-manufacturing books soared in June, while manufacturing orders posted a smaller contraction. Export orders posted the third consecutive decline in the same month.
Compared to the same month of the previous year, core machinery orders expanded 12.5% in June, contrasting May’s 3.7% decrease. The annual average growth in core machinery orders rise from 0.9% in May to 2.0% in June.