Japan's core machinery orders likely fell in May in reaction to a sharp rise in April, but probably remained on an uptrend, a poll by journalists showed on Friday. The poll of 27 economists produced a median forecast for a 3.8 percent fall in May from the previous month for core orders, which exclude those for ships and equipment at electric power firms. In April, core orders jumped 11.8 percent from March. Toru Sakane, an economist at BNP Paribas, forecast a 3.0 percent month-on-month drop in core orders, but said the outlook looked strong.
"Machinery orders from the manufacturing sector should continue to grow as companies use the profits from exports and domestic sales of digital electronics to boost capital spending," he said. Forecasts ranged from a fall of 11.0 percent on month to a rise of 3.6 percent. Compared with May last year, orders were seen up a median 6.8 percent. The data, a highly volatile figure regarded as a leading gauge of capital spending, will be released on Thursday, July 8 at 2:00 p.m. (0500 GMT).///