Foreign demand for core machinery orders has spiked up now and gain in Japan, but domestic demand has remained consistently weak.

The three month ‘spike’ in domestic machinery orders over three months is surprising. It mostly reflects a spike in April, with further growth in May offset by a drop in June. Over all core machinery orders, however, continue to show weakness Over three, six and twelve months core orders are contracting. The core orders figures exclude shipbuilding orders and electric power orders that tend to be lumpy and distort trends. Three-month trends for core orders are trying to make a comeback but so far the localized strength has not been able to move the six-month or Yr/Yr trends higher. On all tenors core orders are still declining.