Japan July machinery orders down 16.7 pct from June, more than forecast

Core private-sector machinery orders dropped a seasonally adjusted 16.7 pct in July from June, the Cabinet Office said.
The market had expected a fall of 5.5 pct, according to the results of a poll of analysts by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
Core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude volatile orders from electric utilities and for ships, are viewed as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending.
Year-on-year, core machinery orders were down 1.2 pct in July.
Machinery orders placed by the manufacturing sector in jumped 18.7 pct month-on-month but were up 4.7 pct from a year before.
Orders placed by non-manufacturers were down 15.8 pct month-on-month and fell 6.2 pct from a year earlier.
Public-sector orders were down 1.9 pct from June and rose 8.7 pct from a year before.
Foreign orders dropped 21.4 pct from June and were down 4.1 pct year-on-year.
Total orders fell 16.0 pct month-on-month and were down 0.6 pct from a year earlier.