Japan's machinery orders weak; soft data adds to B

Aihucha, September 14: Japan's core machinery orders fell more than expected in July, with manufacturers reluctant to make new investments in the face of weak global growth and weakness in some major markets, a sign that the world's third-largest economy There will be hard times ahead. Core orders, a leading indicator of corporate spending in Japan, fell 1.1% in July from the previous month, data showed, exceeding the 0.9% decline expected by economists in a Reuters poll. "Manufacturers that rely on exports are wary of increasing investment in the wake of economic weakness in Asia and continued policy tightening by Western central banks," said Chichi Oshiba, an economist at Daiwa Research Institute. The government has reacted to continued weakness in machinery orders and said they are " stagnation," underscoring the bumpy road ahead for Japanese companies and the broader economy.