Japan’s February core machinery orders seen rebounding: Reuters poll By Reuters – Investing.com

Japan’s February core machinery orders seen rebounding: Reuters poll By Reuters – Investing.com

© Reuters. A worker is seen in front of facilities and chimneys of factories at the Keihin Industrial Zone in Kawasaki

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's core machinery orders are expected to have recovered in February from the previous month's drop, a Reuters poll of economists showed, as firms shored up capital spending despite the lingering impact on business of the coronavirus crisis. Core machinery orders - a highly volatile data series seen as an indicator of capital spending six to nine months ahead - are forecast to rise 2.8% in February from the previous month after a 4.5% fall in January, the poll of 18 economists showed. The core orders, which exclude those for ships and electric utilities, likely grew 2.3% in February from a year earlier. "Manufacturers' capital spending is on the uptick, helped by exports' recovery," said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research. "But non-manufacturers remained cautious about spending on worries about the spread of the coronavirus infection." Policymakers are hoping corporate expenditure can help revive the world's third-biggest economy, even though analysts expect it shrank again in the first quarter due to emergency steps to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The Bank of Japan's latest