Japan's core machinery orders surge 13.4%in January

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders gained a seasonally adjusted 13.4 percent from the previous month to 843.5 billion yen (8.21 billion U.S. dollars) , the Japanese government said Thursday, suggesting the recent economic recovery has stimulated companies' investment. The orders, widely regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending, were up for the first time in two months. It was the second-sharpest month-on-month gain since comparable data became available in April 2005, said the Cabinet Office. The government left its basic assessment of the orders unchanged, saying they are "on a growth trend," which was the same with the last two months. In the reporting period, orders from the manufacturing sector gained 13.4 percent to 331.8 billion yen (3.23 billion dollars), while those from nonmanufacturers increased to 511.0 billion yen ( 4.97 billion dollars), up 12.1 percent, following a 17.2 percent drop in December. By industry, orders from the electric machine industry and the chemical sector logged rise, according to the Cabinet Office. Overseas demand for overall Japanese machinery, an indicator of future exports, gained only 2.7 percent to 864.5 billion yen (8.41 billion dollars), after rising 8.6 percent in December. Enditem