Japan's machinery orders jump 10%

The government said private demand was showing unexpected resilience

Japan's machinery orders unexpectedly jumped in August marking the third straight month of growth, the Japanese cabinet office has said.

Core machinery orders, a closely-watched indicator of future business investment, rose 10.1% in August to 843.5bn yen ($10.3bn; £6.5bn).

The result was far better than the 4% drop economists had predicted.

But the cabinet office parliamentary secretary Takashi Wada urged caution on the strength of the recovery.

"It's too early to characterise the overall development as a positive cycle," he said.

"But private demand is showing unexpectedly stronger resilience."

However, overseas demand, an indicator of prospects for Japanese exports, fell 3.7% in its first decline for four months.

"If [overseas demand] stays at the current level, it should not have a significant macroeconomic impact," Mr Wada said.