Japan’s core machinery orders declined a seasonally adjusted 2.7 per cent in June from the previous month for the first drop in two months, the government said on Tuesday.
The decline, which was smaller than many analysts expected, followed a 10.5 per cent increase in May.
Core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude volatile categories such as ships and utilities, declined to 777.4 billion yen ($8 billion), the Cabinet Office said.
The office said however that machinery orders were “gradually picking up.” The statistic is seen as an indicator of future corporate capital spending.
Overseas demand, an indicator of future exports, declined 16.7 per cent to 755.3 billion yen after a 10.3 per cent rise in May.