Core machine orders in Japan advanced 0.6 percent on month in May, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday – worth 907.6 billion yen.
The headline figure easily beat forecasts for a decline of 0.5 percent following the 3.8 percent increase in April.
On a yearly basis, core machine orders added 19.3 percent – also topping expectations for a gain of 16.7 percent following the 3.0 percent increase in the previous month.
Upon the release of the data, the Cabinet Office maintained its assessment of core machine orders, saying that they are recovering.
The total number of machinery orders, including those volatile ones for ships and from electric power companies, slipped 6.2 percent on month and gained 4.8 percent on year to 2.302 trillion yen.
Manufacturing orders added 9.9 percent on month and 44.6 percent on year to 441.7 billion yen in May, while non-manufacturing orders lost 4.0 percent on month and added 2.5 percent on year to 475.0 billion yen.
Government orders dropped 17.8 percent on month and 22.2 percent on year to 262.4 billion yen. Orders from overseas gained 3.7 percent on month and 3.5 percent on year to 890.4 billion yen. Orders from agencies slipped 12.0 percent on month and 10.5 percent on year to 91.7 billion yen.
For the second quarter of 2015, core machine orders are forecast to have fallen 7.4 percent on quarter and 1.7 percent on year.
Also on Thursday, the Bank of Japan said that the M2 money stock in Japan advanced 3.8 percent on year in June, worth 908.7 trillion yen. That missed expectations for an increase of 4.0 percent following the upwardly revised 4.1 percent gain in May (originally 4.0 percent).
The M3 money stock gained an annual 3.1 percent to 1,224.3 trillion yen – also below forecasts for 3.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the previous month.
The L money stock gained 4.3 percent to 1,617.4 trillion yen following the 4.5 percent jump a month earlier.
For the second quarter of 2014, M2 was up 3.8 percent on year, while M3 added 3.2 percent and L collected 4.3 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com