Japan's machinery orders rebound as recession eases
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
TOKYO, Aug. 10 (Bloomberg): Japanese machinery orders rose for the first time in four months in June and the current-account surplus widened, the latest signs that the nation's worst postwar recession is easing.
Orders climbed 9.7 per cent from May, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, more than the 2.6 per cent expected by economists. The surplus more than doubled from a year earlier to 1.15 trillion yen ($11.8 billion), expanding for the first time since February 2008 as exports improved.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced, extending its rally in the past month to 13 per cent as the global recession abated and cost cuts helped earnings at companies from Honda Motor Co. to Sony Corp. exceed analysts' expectations. Even so, a separate report showed corporate bankruptcies increased in July, signaling unemployment may soon rise to a postwar high.
"We shouldn't be too optimistic about capital spending yet," said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "Companies are still burdened with excess labor and capacity and the outlook for the economy is uncertain."
Orders climbed 9.7 per cent from May, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, more than the 2.6 per cent expected by economists. The surplus more than doubled from a year earlier to 1.15 trillion yen ($11.8 billion), expanding for the first time since February 2008 as exports improved.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced, extending its rally in the past month to 13 per cent as the global recession abated and cost cuts helped earnings at companies from Honda Motor Co. to Sony Corp. exceed analysts' expectations. Even so, a separate report showed corporate bankruptcies increased in July, signaling unemployment may soon rise to a postwar high.
"We shouldn't be too optimistic about capital spending yet," said Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. "Companies are still burdened with excess labor and capacity and the outlook for the economy is uncertain."