Japan Machinery Orders

Japan's core machinery orders, excluding those for ships and electric power companies, declined by 1.2% month-on-month to 889.3 billion yen in December 2024, the worst reading in four months. The latest reading also reversed from a 3.4% growth in November and defied market expectations for a slight 0.1% gain. Orders from the manufacturing sector dropped 10.4% to 414.7 billion yen, while non-manufacturing orders rose 4.7% to 475.2 billion yen. The biggest falls were seen in industries such as mining, quarrying of stone & gravel (-58.8%), real estate (-39.2%), chemical & chemical products (-38.9%), information & communication electronics (-37.2%) and pulp, paper & paper products (-35%). On an annual basis, private-sector machinery orders increased 4.3% in December, slowing from a 10.3% surge in November and missing estimates of 6.9%.