Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent to 1.096 trillion yen in December from the previous month, after a 2.9 percent drop in November, the Cabinet Office said Friday.
The figure pushed up the total for 2000 to a record 19 percent.
However, the outlook for the January-March quarter for orders -- excluding volatile ones for ships and from electric power companies -- turned negative, contracting by 6.4 percent, the gloomiest outlook since April-June 1999, it said.