Japan's machinery orders jump 5.0pc in October

 TOKYO: Japanese machinery orders rose more than expected in October, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday, rebounding after a big fall in the prior month in a sign capital spending will remain resilient.

Core machinery orders, a volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, climbed 5.0 percent in October from the previous month.

The gain in core orders, which exclude those of ships and power generation equipment, compared with economists' median estimate of a 3.0 percent increase. Orders fell 8.1 percent in September.

Capital spending - investment in factories and equipment - has played a key role in the Japanese economy's longest expansion on record.

The economy expanded at an annualised rate of 2.5 percent in July-September for the seventh straight quarter of growth, with robust capital expenditure helping to make up for a drop in consumer spending, revised data showed last week.

In the longer term, the government is urging companies to increase such spending to improve productivity in response to a shrinking labour force as the population declines.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders increased 2.3 percent versus economists' expectations of a 2.8 percent fall, Wednesday's report showed.

The government maintained its assessment that machinery orders were showing signs of picking up.