Analysts at Nomura explain that the Japanese machinery order statistics for August 2018 were strong as in August, core machinery orders (private sector, excluding orders for ships and from electric power companies) rose 6.8% m-m, greatly exceeding the consensus forecast (Bloomberg survey median) for a 3.9% decrease.
Key Quotes
“This strong growth follows a similarly strong 11.0% growth in July. August core machinery orders included no orders with contract value of ¥10bn or more. On average, Jul-Aug core machinery orders were up 6.4% versus the Apr-Jun average. This marks further acceleration from the 2.2% q-q growth in Apr-Jun.”