Japan core machinery orders fall 2.9 pct in April

TOKYO, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's core machinery orders logged the first drop in three months by falling a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent in April from the previous month, government data showed on Monday.

The total value of private-sector orders, excluding those for ships and power equipment, closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, came in at 886.3 billion yen (5.62 billion U.S.