Japan's December core private-sector machine orders fell a seasonally adjusted 0.5% on month, the government reported Friday. The data show orders had fallen by 14.4% on the year ago period. In the release, the government also forecast machine orders would fall by 0.4% in the January/March quarter from the previous quarter. A Japanese official said the government maintains its view that machine orders are still in a "declining trend." The official added that the orders data also suggests corporate capital expenditure will remain weak in the first half of 2002/03.//MarketNews