MNI BRIEF: Japan April Industrial Output Drops
Japan's industrial output fell 0.1% m/m in April, its first drop in two months, following March's 4.4% gain, due to weaker production of transport equipment excluding motor vehicles, data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Friday.
Production of motor vehicles fell 0.6% m/m in April for the first drop in two months following +9.9% in March.
Based on its survey of manufacturers, METI projected that industrial production would rise 6.9% in May (revised up from +4.4% forecast last month) before falling 5.6% in June.
Adjusting the upward bias in output plans, METI forecast production would rise 2.3% m/m in May.
Based on this assumption, production would rise 2.2% q/q over April-June, the first rise in two quarters following -5.2% in Q1.