Japan's core machinery orders up 10.7 pct in October

The Japanese government said Wednesday that core machinery orders in private sector here jumped a seasonally adjusted 10.7 percent in October on month for the second straight monthly increase.

The value of the orders totaled 903.8 billion yen (about 7.35 billion U.S. dollars). The figures, which excluded those for ships and from utilities for their volatility, were widely considered as a key indicator of future capital spending.

Meanwhile, the government upgraded its basic assessment of core machinery orders for the first time in six months.

By sectors, orders from the manufacturing sector surged 14.5 percent for the first rise in five months to about 3.06 billion dollars in the reporting month, and those from the nonmanufacturing sector expanded 10.7 percent to about 4.35 billion dollars.

Total orders, including those from the domestic public sector and abroad, rose 20.9 percent to around 22.71 billion dollars, while overseas demand for Japanese machinery, an indicator of future exports, jumped 41.6 percent to about 10.50 billion dollars.