Japan's machinery orders unexpectedly rose in May, offering policymakers some comfort capital expenditure has held up despite the hit to corporate profits from the coronavirus pandemic.
TOKYO - Japan’s machinery orders unexpectedly rose in May, offering policymakers some comfort capital expenditure has held up despite the hit to corporate profits from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The gain is likely to be one-off given weak demand from sectors like automobile, capital goods and general-purpose machinery, which hold the key to capital spending,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. Overseas orders sank 18.5% from May to the lowest level since 2010, a sign the pandemic was hurting global demand.
But capital expenditure has been underpinned by investment demand for automation and technology to offset a chronic labour shortage in the fast-ageing population.
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