Japan Core Machinary Order : July~Yen 664.7 b

Sep 9, 8:23 PM EDT
Japan July core machinery orders down 9.3 percent

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's core machinery orders, a closely watched indicator of corporate capital spending, fell back in July after a rise in the previous month, the government said Thursday.

Core private sector machinery orders in July plunged 9.3 percent from a month earlier to 664.7 billion yen ($7.3 billion), according to the Cabinet Office report. The figure excludes often-volatile orders from shipbuilders and electric power companies.

Declines in orders at steelmakers and transport equipment companies contributed to the fall.

The result marked a major downturn from a 9.7 percent jump recorded in June - the first increase in four months - and was a bigger decline than the 3.6 percent fall forecast in a Kyodo news agency market survey.

In the April-June quarter, core machinery orders fell 4.9 percent from the previous quarter. The government expects the figure to tumble 8.6 percent in the July-September period.

© 2009 The Associated Press.
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Japan Trade ~ July : surplus $13.6 b

Published: Tuesday September 8, 2009 MYT 8:15:00 AM
Japan's said Tuesday current account surplus down 19.4%

Japan's finance ministry says the country's current account surplus in July fell 19.4 percent from a year earlier.
The current accounts surplus is Japan's broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world.

The ministry said Tuesday that the surplus in July came at 1.27 trillion yen ($13.6 billion).

Exports in July tumbled 37.6 percent to 4.55 trillion yen, marking the 10th consecutive year-on-year decline.
Imports plunged 41.2 percent to 4.11 trillion yen in the month.
- AP
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