Core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent in March from a month earlier but are expected to fall 10.5 percent in the April-June quarter amid concerns over the U.S. economy as well as other economies in Asia, the government said Tuesday.
The orders came to 891 billion yen in March, following a 6.8 percent slide the previous month. They represent an unadjusted 11.7 percent rise from a year earlier for the third straight year-on-year increase, according to the Cabinet Office's Economic and Social Research Institute.
For the full year through March 31, core private-sector machinery orders slipped 3.7 percent from the previous year, falling for the second straight year.
The government's forecast for the April-June period of a projected 19.1 percent contraction in orders from overseas marks the sharpest fall for a quarter since an 11.3 percent decline in April-June 1999.
The government maintained its upbeat view on the key early gauge of corporate capital spending in March for the third straight month, saying there are "signs of improvement" in machinery orders and that capital spending may pick up in the future.