Japan Machinery Orders

Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude those for ships and electric power companies, jumped 7.7% month-on-month to 886.8 billion yen in February 2024, reversing from a 0.7% fall in January and far exceeding market expectations for a 0.8% gain. The increase in capital spending was driven by sharp gains in both the manufacturing (9.4%) and non-manufacturing (9.1%) sectors to 386.3 billion yen and 505.9 billion yen, respectively. The highly volatile data series is considered as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months. On an annual basis, private-sector machinery orders dropped 1.8% in February.