Japan's core machinery orders plummet 11 pct on month in April

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders plummeted 11.0 percent in April from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the government said Thursday.

According to the latest data, orders in the recording month totaled 796.3 billion yen (7.45 billion U.S. dollars), but missed median analysts' expectations for a 3.4 percent decline after orders logged a 5.5 increase in March.

The orders, excluding volatile ones for ships and from utilities, on a yearly basis, tumbled 9.2 percent, the government's data showed, also well below market forecasts for a 1.9 percent retreat, after orders gained 3.2 percent on year a month earlier.

Including volatile orders, the total number of machinery orders, nosedived 20.2 percent on month and 7.9 percent on year, the government said Thursday in its latest report.

The Japanese government uses the machinery orders data to predict the strength of business spending in a six to nine month period ahead and such business investment accounts for around 15 percent of Japan's gross domestic product.

Analysts said on Thursday, however, that they now expect capital spending to remain stagnant at best or continue a downward trajectory, as corporate earnings are not translating into business investment under a murky outlook for the economy here as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's blueprint for another installment of his already failed "Abenomics" economic policy mix remains elusive. Endit