Japan's core private-sector machinery orders jumped a seasonally adjusted 10.5 percent on month in May to their highest reading in 4½ years, the government said Thursday, signaling the yen's slide has raised hope for recovery in exports and prodded companies to boost investment.

After a fall in April, the orders — regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending — came to ¥799.2 billion, the highest since October 2008, when the country's economy started to wane against a backdrop of the global financial crisis, the Cabinet Office said.

It was also the third-sharpest month-on-month increase in the orders, which exclude those for ships and from utilities because of their volatility, since comparable data became available in April 2005.