Japan: Machinery orders slide in March for the first time in three months
Core machinery orders—which cover the private sector, exclude volatile orders and are a leading indicator for capital spending over the coming three- to six-month period—fell in March for the first time in three months.
Specifically, orders fell 0.4% in March versus the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms, contrasting the 2.3% increase in February, Market analysts expected a more pronounced drop of a 7.1%.
In year-on-year terms, orders fell 0.7% in March, after falling 2.4% in February. The annual average variation in orders was unchanged at minus 0.3% in March.