TOKYO--Japanese core machinery orders fell in April for the first time in three months, the government said Monday, as a slowdown in construction and public sector investment outweighed solid demand for semiconductor production equipment. Core machinery orders, a leading indicator of business investment, decreased 3.1% from the previous month, following a 1.4% rise in March, the Cabinet Office said. The result compares with a 1.0% drop expected by economists surveyed by the Nikkei. On a year-on-year basis, core orders rose 2.7%. The government stuck with its assessment of the overall trend, saying a recovery in orders was on hold.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 12, 2017 01:30 UTC