, Columnist
This Japanese Puzzle Has Many Moving Parts
Machinery demand has defied a deteriorating mood among companies, but there's data to support both optimists and pessimists.
Confusing cogs.
Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg
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Believe what you want to believe: Japan’s machines are humming, or heading for trouble. There’s support for both points of view.
For months, Japan watchers have been waiting for business activity to drop. However, core machine orders, which typically point to future spending, have continued to rise, as have industrial output and capital spending. Machinery orders in April came in much stronger than economists expected.