REPEAT: MNI 5 THINGS: Japan June Machine Orders Slump

--Japan June Core Machine Orders -8.8% M/M; MNI Median -1.0%

--Japan June Core Machine Orders Post 2nd Straight M/M Drop

--Japan Q3 Core Machine Orders Seen -0.3% Q/Q; Q2 +2.2%

--Japan Govt Downgrades View: Pickup in Machine Orders Stalling

     TOKYO (MNI) - Japan's core machinery orders, which exclude volatile orders

for power generation equipment and ships, slumped 8.8% on month in June for the

second straight m/m decline after -3.7% in May, indicating firms may be slowing

capital investment, data from the Cabinet Office released Thursday showed.

     The key points from the latest machinery orders data:

     * The core order decrease was bigger than the MNI survey median economist

forecast for a 1.0% drop (forecast range: from -6.5% to +2.3%). July-September

core orders are expected to post the first drop in five quarters, down 0.3%

after +2.2% (revised down from +7.1%) for the April-June quarter.

     * The three-month moving average of core orders fell 1.1% in June from the

previous three-month period, marking the first drop in six months after +0.6% in

May.

     * The Cabinet Office downgraded its assessment for the first time since May

2017, saying, "The picking-up in machinery orders is stalling." Previously, it

said, "Machinery orders are picking up."

     * "The level of core orders was the lowest since December last year but the

latest data does not indicate the trend is moving downward," a Cabinet Office

official said. "The forecast drop in the July-September quarter is small." 

     * Orders from the manufacturing sector fell 15.9% on month in June, the

first drop in three months after +1.3% in May, while orders from the

non-manufacturing sector excluding those for power generation and ships also

fell 7.0% on month, the first fall in sixth months after +0.2% in May.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com