Contact Mace News President
Tony Mace tony@macenews.com
to find a customer- and markets-oriented brand of news coverage with a level of individualized service unique to the industry. A market participant told us he believes he has his own White House correspondent as Mace News provides breaking news and/or audio feeds, stories, savvy analysis, photos and headlines delivered how you want them. And more. And this is important because you won’t get it anywhere else. That’s MICRONEWS. We know how important to you are the short advisories on what’s coming up, whether briefings, statements, unexpected changes in schedules and calendars and anything else that piques our interest.
No matter the area being covered, the reporter is always only a telephone call or message away. We check with you frequently to see how we can improve. Have a question, need to be briefed via video or audio-only on a topic’s state of play, keep us on speed dial. See the list of interest areas we cover elsewhere
on this site.
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You can have two weeks reduced price no-obligation trial for $199. No self-renewing contracts. Suspend, renew coverage at any time. Stay with a topic like trade while it’s hot and suspend coverage or switch coverage areas when it’s not. We serve customers one by one, 24/7.
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Tony Mace was the top editorial executive for Market News
International for two decades.
Washington Bureau Chief Denny Gulino had the same title at Market News for 18 years.
Similar experience undergirds our service in Ottawa, London, Brussels and in Asia.
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–Cabinet Office Keeps View After October Upgrade: Orders Showing Signs of Pickup
–Official: December Rise After November’s 11.0% Dip Indicates Trend Not Strong Enough to Revise Up View
By Max Sato
(MaceNews) – Japanese core machinery orders, a key leading indicator of business investment in equipment and software, surged a record 19.1% on the month to the highest level in nearly 18 years, backed by one-off large orders for chemical devices from refineries and for nuclear power facilities from nuclear fuel producers, data from the Cabinet Office released Thursday showed.
The increase was also led by persistent demand for computers in an automation and digitization drive aimed at alleviating widespread labor shortages. December orders came from the financial and telecommunications industries.
The rebound at the end of the year more than offset a sharper-than-expected 11.0% pullback in November. The core measure’s December value of ¥1.05 trillion was the largest since Y1.07 trillion hit in January 2008, when core orders rose 15.1%.
In the October-December quarter, the core measure marked a sharp 7.9% rebound on quarter to ¥2.93 trillion, the biggest amount since ¥3.05 trillion recorded in April-June 2006. It followed a 2.1% dip in July-September and a slight 0.4% gain in April-June.
The Q4 results came in much stronger than the official projection of a slight 0.2% increase. The official forecast for the January-March quarter is a 4.5% pullback from the previous three-month period.
The Cabinet Office maintained its assessment that machinery orders are “showing signs of a pickup,” after having upgraded its view for the first time in 11 months in the October report.
“The 19.1% increase was in reaction to the previous month’s 11.0% drop and was also pushed up by large orders,” an official told Mace News. “So, it is not strong enough for us to upgrade our view at this point.”
Friday, Feb. 20, 2026
0830 JST (2330 GMT/1830 EST Thursday, Feb. 19) The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications releases January CPI.
Mace News median: total CPI +1.6% y/y (range: +1.5% to +1.7%) vs. Dec+2.1%; core CPI (ex-fresh food) +2.1% y/y (range: +2.0% to +2.1%) vs. Dec +2.4%; core-core CPI (ex-fresh food, energy) +2.7% y/y (range +2.6% to +2.8%) vs. Dec +2.9%
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO (MaceNews) – Japan’s nationwide consumer inflation is expected to continue rising, but the pace of gains is seen slowing further in January after sharp declines across the three key measures the previous month, as softer food and energy prices, along with lower electricity and gas prices, weighed on inflation growth.
The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food, is expected to rise 2.1 percent from a year earlier in January, marking a 53rd consecutive increase but the slowest pace since January 2024. The CPI stood at 2.4 percent in December and had eased from 3.0 percent in both October and November.
Among the other major measures, the headline CPI is projected to rise about 1.6 percent in January, slowing for a third straight month from 2.1 percent in December and slipping below the Bank of Japan’s inflation target. The core-core CPI, which excludes both fresh food and energy, is expected to rise about 2.7 percent, down from 2.9 percent in December, when it fell below the 3 percent mark for the first time in nine months since March.
The nationwide trend reflects developments in Tokyo, whose CPI figures were released Jan. 30. The headline CPI in the capital rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier in January from 2.0 percent in December and marking the lowest increase since 1.3 percent in March 2022.
Tokyo’s CPI excluding fresh food rose 2.0 percent year on year in January from 2.3 percent in December. The index excluding both fresh food and energy rose 2.4 percent, easing from 2.6 percent the previous month.
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026
0850 JST (2350 GMT/1850 EST Wednesday, Feb. 18) The Cabinet Office releases December machinery orders.
Mace News median: core orders +3.2% m/m (range: +1.0% to +5.0%) vs. Nov -11.0%; +1.0% y/y (range: -0.5% to +4.4%) vs. Nov -6.4%
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO (MaceNews) – Japan’s core machinery orders, a key leading indicator of business investment in equipment and software, are expected to rise from the previous month for the first time in two months in December, supported by solid capital spending sentiment and persistent demand for computers as firms digitalize and automate workplaces to ease labor shortages.
Core machinery orders are forecast to increase 3.2 percent from the previous month in December, rebounding from an unexpectedly sharp 11.0 percent drop in November. In November, orders were weighed down by declines in nuclear power-related orders from nonferrous metals and electric machinery producers, as well as weaker demand for train cars and engines from transport firms.
On a year-on-year basis, core orders, excluding those from electric utilities and for ships, are expected to rise 1.0 percent in December, after falling 6.4 percent a month earlier. The November decline marked the first annual drop in 14 months.
In November, the Cabinet Office maintained its assessment that “machinery orders are showing signs of a pickup.” The government upgraded its view in October for the first time since the November 2024 report.
For the October-December quarter, orders are projected to rise 2.7 percent from the previous quarter after falling 2.1 percent in July-September. That would mark the first quarterly increase in two quarters and exceed the Cabinet Office’s preliminary forecast of a 0.2 percent rise.
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Few Federal Reserve officials have completely foreclosed the possibility of resuming interest rate reductions at some point, but for
for release: Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 0830 JST (2330 GMT/1830 EST Thursday, Feb. 26) The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications releases February Tokyo CPI.
–Cabinet Office Keeps View After October Upgrade: Orders Showing Signs of Pickup –Official: December Rise After November’s 11.0% Dip Indicates Trend Not Strong Enough to
Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 0830 JST (2330 GMT/1830 EST Thursday, Feb. 19) The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications releases January CPI.Mace News median: total
Thursday, Feb. 19, 20260850 JST (2350 GMT/1850 EST Wednesday, Feb. 18) The Cabinet Office releases December machinery orders.Mace News median: core orders +3.2% m/m (range:
–Updates with Official Remarks at Briefing, Background –IMF: BOJ Policy Interest Rate Below Estimated Neutral Rate, Echoing Recent Comments of BOJ Governor Ueda –IMF: Continued
–Investors Favor Eurozone, EM Markets over U.S. By Vicki Schmelzer NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Global fund managers remained “uber-bullish” in February, according to the latest
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 20260850 JST (2350 GMT/1850 EST Tuesday, Feb. 17) The Ministry of Finance releases January trade.Mace News survey median: exports +11.9% y/y (range:
Contact Mace News President
Tony Mace tony@macenews.com
to find a customer- and markets-oriented brand of news coverage with a level of individualized service unique to the industry. A market participant told us he believes he has his own White House correspondent as Mace News provides breaking news and/or audio feeds, stories, savvy analysis, photos and headlines delivered how you want them. And more. And this is important because you won’t get it anywhere else. That’s MICRONEWS. We know how important to you are the short advisories on what’s coming up, whether briefings, statements, unexpected changes in schedules and calendars and anything else that piques our interest.
No matter the area being covered, the reporter is always only a telephone call or message away. We check with you frequently to see how we can improve. Have a question, need to be briefed via video or audio-only on a topic’s state of play, keep us on speed dial. See the list of interest areas we cover elsewhere
on this site.
—
You can have two weeks reduced price no-obligation trial for $199. No self-renewing contracts. Suspend, renew coverage at any time. Stay with a topic like trade while its hot and suspend coverage or switch coverage areas when it’s not. We serve customers one by one 24/7.
—
Tony Mace was the top editorial executive for Market News International for two decades.
Washington Bureau Chief Denny Gulino had the same title at Market News for 18 years.
Similar experience undergirds our service in Ottawa, London, Brussels and in Asia.
