Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of trends in capital spending, fell 3.2 percent in March from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, government data showed on Thursday. That was much worse than the median forecast for a 5.1 percent rise in a poll of 26 economists last week. Forecasts had ranged from a fall of 6.1 percent to a rise of 11.0 percent. Compared with the same month last year, orders rose 0.2 percent, also worse than the poll forecast for a gain of 10.9 percent. The government forecast orders would fall 3.2 percent in the April-June quarter after falling 5.6 percent in January-March. It had forecast a 0.2 percent decline for January-March. Core orders, which exclude those for ships and equipment at electric power firms, are regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, although the data tends to be volatile.///