Machinery orders in Japan surged in November, fueling expectations that Japanese officials will raise interest rates later this week.
Japan's Cabinet Office said Monday that the total value of machinery orders jumped by 14.2 percent in November over October, while private-sector machinery orders, excluding volatile ones for ships and those from electric power companies, rose a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent.
Within manufacturing, orders rose by 9.7 percent, or 5.7 percent excluding the volatile industries. Government orders rose by 9.8 percent.
The Bank of Japan will wrap up its two-day meeting Thursday, and the latest machinery figures have market watchers speculating that rates in that country will likely be bumped up by a quarter point, to 0.5 percent.
