Japan Core Machinery Orders Surge In March

(RTTNews) - The total value of core machinery orders in Japan spiked 13.0 percent on month in March, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 1,090.9 billion.

That blew away forecasts for a decline of 1.5 percent following the 4.3 percent increase in February.

On a yearly basis, orders jumped 8.4 percent - again beating expectations for a decline of 2.2 percent after rising 1.5 percent in the previous month.

Orders from the government tumbled 31.0 percent on month and 16.9 percent on year to 454.9 billion yen, while orders from overseas slumped 13.1 percent on month but gained 9.3 percent on year to 1,264.1 billion yen.

For the first quarter of 2025, orders were up 3.9 percent on quarter and 5.6 percent on year. In the second quarter, orders are expected to slip 2.1 percent on quarter and 1.0 percent on year.