The Japanese Cabinet Office announced on Monday that the country's core machine orders increased by a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in December, amounting to 838.8 billion yen. This rise was as anticipated, following a contraction of 4.9 percent in November.
However, when viewed on an annual basis, the core machine orders fell by 0.7 percent — surpassing expectations that predicted a 1.0 percent decline, after a 5.0 percent decrease in the previous month.
The last quarter of 2023 saw orders diminish by 1.0 percent quarter-on-quarter and 2.5 percent year-on-year.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, the orders are projected to rise by 4.6 percent from the previous quarter, while being 0.2 percent lower year-on-year.
