TOKYO--Japanese core machinery orders rose 0.6% in October from the previous month, the government said Wednesday, as some demand ahead of a planned sales tax hike leveled off.
The rise was squarely in line with the 0.6% rise expected by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and the Nikkei. It also came after a 2.1% decline in September.
Economists said many companies placed machinery orders before the end of September to take advantage of a program that allowed firms to pay the current 5% sales tax though next April when the levy rises to 8%.
That meant orders leveled off in October, however the total value of core orders was above Y800 billion for the third straight month for the first time since 2008.
The government revised its assessment of core machinery orders -- widely seen as a leading indicator of corporate capital investment -- to say they are "gradually increasing," from "picking up" in the previous assessment.
Unadjusted core orders also rose 17.8% from the year-earlier month.
Core orders exclude those from electric power companies and those for ships, which are often a source of volatility in the overall data due to their large sizes.
Write to Eleanor Warnock at eleanor.warnock@wsj.com
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