Japan: Favorable orders, particularly manufacturing related - Nomura

In February 2018, Japan’s core machinery orders (private sector, excluding orders for ships and from electric power companies) rose 2.1% m-m, beating the consensus forecast (Bloomberg survey median) for a 2.5% decline.

Key Quotes

“The average for Jan-Feb was 4.3% higher than the average for Oct-Dec, and core machinery orders are on track to beat machinery manufacturers’ forecast for a 1.5% q-q decline in Jan-Mar 2018 (as of the end-Dec 2017 survey).”

“Looking at core machinery orders by sector, we see that orders from the manufacturing sector were up a sharp 8.0% m-m in February, following upon a 9.9% m-m rise in January, whereas orders from the nonmanufacturing sector were basically flat (+0.0%). Average orders from the manufacturing sector in Jan-Feb were up 7.6% versus the Oct-Dec average, while average orders from the nonmanufacturing sector were up 2.7%. The data shows solid growth in core machinery orders, particularly from the manufacturing sector.”