Japanese Machinery Orders Up 10.5 Percent

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's core machinery orders, a closely watched indicator of corporate capital spending, jumped 10.5 percent in September, outperforming forecasts and rising for the second month in a row.

The data show that companies are gradually becoming more willing to spend as the global economy recovers. The Cabinet Office said orders received by 280 core manufacturers it polls totaled 738 billion yen ($8.24 billion) for the month, versus 668.1 billion yen in August.

The figures exclude orders from shipbuilders and electric power companies, which tend to fluctuate more.

The large jump in September was much higher than predicted, beating the 3.1 percent rise predicted in a Kyodo News survey.

Just two months ago machinery orders fell 9.3 percent to their lowest level since the government started compiling data in 1987.

The Cabinet Office predicted that in the current October-December quarter, orders will increase 1.0 percent from the previous quarter.

Overall machinery orders in September rose 6 percent, with overseas orders jumping 26 percent and government orders falling 17 percent.