Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese machinery orders, an early indicator of business investment, rose unexpectedly in December, snapping a two-month decline. Machinery orders, excluding shipping and utility companies, rose 5.2 percent from November, seasonally adjusted, to 871.1 billion yen ($7.21 billion), the Cabinet Office said. Economists expected a 0.5 percent drop, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Orders rose 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter from the third. A pickup in business spending may not save Japan from its fourth recession in a decade. A report this week is expected to show that the economy shrank 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median forecast of 39 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. ``It's very difficult to expect a slight improvement of business investment to lead Japan's growth,'' said Mamoru Yamazaki, Chief Economist at Barclays Capital Japan Ltd. ``At best, we can say the outlook for Japan's business investment is becoming less gloomy and its drag on the economy is easing somewhat.'' In all of 2002, machinery orders fell 12 percent to 9.98 trillion yen, the lowest on record. They are expected to fall 3.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the Cabinet Office said.
The No. 246 bond, which carries a 0.8 percent coupon and matures in 2012, fell 0.227 to 99.591 as of 2:56 p.m. in Tokyo. Its yield rose 2.5 basis points to 0.845 percent. //www.quote.bloomberg.com