India, Feb. 19 -- The value of core machine orders in Japan was down 12.5 percent on month in December, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 824.8 billion yen.

That missed forecasts for a decline of 8.9 percent following the 18.0 percent surge in November.

On an annual basis, core machine orders sank 3.5 percent - again missing expectations for a drop of 1.3 percent after climbing 5.3 percent in the previous month.

For the third quarter of 2019, core machine orders shed 2.1 percent on quarter and 1.5 percent on year.

Core machine orders are forecast to fall 5.2 percent on quarter and 1.7 percent on year in the first three months of 2020.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from RTT News....