–Japan Govt Upgrades View: Machine Orders Showing Signs of Pickup
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese machinery orders, the key leading indicator of business investment in equipment, marked the second straight monthly gain in November as parts supply constraints continued easing and new Covid cases ebbed before the Omicron variant triggered a global resurgence, data released Monday by the Cabinet Office showed.
Orders from manufacturers marked the first rise in two months while those from non-manufacturers recorded the first drop in two months.
The key points from machinery orders data:
* The increase was led by orders for computers and motors from electric machine makers and transport machines (cranes, conveyors and elevators) from general and business machine makers as well as computers and telecommunications equipment from information service providers and computers and transport machines from financial firms.
* Core orders gained 11.6% from a year earlier in November, the eighth straight year-on-year rise, with the pace of increase accelerating from 2.9% in October but slowing from 12.5% in September. It was stronger than the consensus call of a 6.1% gain. The recent double-digit percentage gains were in reaction to a 19.1% slump in the April-June quarter of 2020 and a 14.1% drop in July-September, when the first wave of the pandemic dampened global demand.
* The Cabinet Office upgraded its assessment this month for November data after downgrading it in October (for August data), saying, “Machinery orders are showing signs of a pickup.” Last month, it said, “The pickup in machinery orders is pausing.”
* Orders from overseas, which are not part of the core measure, edged up 0.7% on the month in November for the second straight rise after rising 17.2% in October and falling 14.2% in September. From a year earlier, this category recorded the eighth straight year-on-year rise, up 44.1% after rising 41.8% the previous month.