Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 8.3 percent in June from May, rebounding from two straight month of decline, the government said Wednesday, led by large orders for transport equipment including rail cars.
The orders, widely viewed as a leading indicator of future capital spending, totaled ¥849.8 billion ($8.4 billion), the Cabinet Office said. The gain was stronger than the average market forecast of a roughly 3.5 percent increase.
Despite the sharp gain, the government left unchanged its basic assessment of core machinery orders, saying they are now "at a standstill," after downgrading the view the previous month, taking into account steep declines in the past two months.