Overview

• May’s private machinery orders excluding shipbuilding and power fell 0.6% to ¥913.5 billion, marking a second consecutive monthly drop
• Manufacturing orders declined 1.8% to ¥448.5 billion as large April contracts in the chemical sector created a reactionary pullback
• Non-manufacturing orders rose 1.8% to ¥479.3 billion on strong electronic computing equipment demand from finance, insurance, wholesale and retail firms
• The Cabinet Office maintained its baseline judgment that there are “signs of a pickup” in private sector equipment investment
• Officials said they cannot yet gauge the effect of Trump administration’s high tariffs and pledged to closely monitor future machinery order trends