Japan's core machinery orders fall 8.2 pct. in Sept.

Japan's core machinery orders fell a seasonally-adjusted 8.2 percent in September from the previous month to 738.6 billion yen (9.48 billion U.S. dollars), marking the first decline in two months, a Cabinet Office report showed on Thursday. The government's figure for September which excludes volatile shipbuilding and power-companies, came in higher than the median market forecast for a 7.1 percent decline in the recording period and comes on the heels of an 11.0 percent rise in August, the data showed. The fall in September's core machinery orders suggests that corporate capital spending has eased following post-quake reconstruction orders for machinery declining, as a slowdown in global economic growth, uncertainty in the Eurozone and persistently strong yen also weigh on corporations' willingness to spend. On an unadjusted basis core orders rose 9.8 percent in September, the government report showed and in the July-September quarter the cabinet office said that core orders increased 1.5 percent from the previous three months, marking the third straight quarter of gains. Based on the latest figures, the government said that orders are now "moving sideways." Machinery orders are a key advance indicator for corporate capital spending and the government uses the data to predict the strength of business spending in a six to nine month period ahead and such business investment accounts for roughly 15 percent of Japan's gross domestic product. Types of machinery included in the monthly government survey comprise engines and turbines, heavy electrical machinery, electronic and communication equipment, industrial machinery, machine tools, railway rolling stock, road vehicles, aircraft, ships, water crafts, as well as sub types in the aforementioned categories.