Capital Spending and Reuters Poll

data: It marked the biggest gain since last October and compared with economists' median estimate of a 0.8 percent decline in a Reuters poll, according to The Japan Times. In March, orders rose 3.8 percent. The upbeat data may solidify expectations that a planned sales tax hike will go ahead in October and offers some support for an economy hampered by faltering exports, slowing corporate earnings and factory activity. ; Cabinet Office data released Wednesday showed core machinery orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, increased 5.2 percent in April from the previous month. Capital spending has been a bright spot in the world's third-largest economy, driven by investment in high-tech equipment and labor-saving technology to cope with a labor crunch in its aging society, as well as refurbishing demand for upgrading old plants and equipment. Underscoring the pressure on export-reliant Japan, external orders which do not account for core orders tumbled 24.7 percent month-on-month in April, reversing from the prior month's 9.0 percent gain and posting the biggest drop since November 2015. All the same, firms may turn cautious about boosting investment if uncertainty over the global economy and the bruising U.S.-China trade dispute persist, analysts say. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.