Japan core machinery orders fall 3.0% in November

13 January 2011 - 01H55

Workers are seen at an industrial facility in Ohira, Tochigi prefecture. Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, fell 3.0 percent in November from the previous month, official data showed Thursday.

AFP - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, fell 3.0 percent in November from the previous month, official data showed Thursday.

The figures, which exclude particularly volatile demand from power companies and for ships, followed a 1.4 percent fall in October, the Cabinet Office said.

The drop was bigger than market expectations of a 2.0 percent fall.

Orders from the manufacturing sector rose 10.6 percent in November, compared with a 1.4 percent hike in the previous month, while orders from non-manufacturers tumbled 10.5 percent.

The government downgraded its assessment on machinery orders, warning of "weak movement" in the nation's non-manufacturing sectors.

Core orders were expected to fall 9.8 percent in the October-December quarter, reversing a 9.6 percent rise in July-September.