Japan Nov machinery orders jump, BoJ upbeat on economy

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda says Japan's economy is making steady progress toward achieving the BoJ's 2% inflation target during a quarterly meeting of the bank's regional branch managers on Thursday - AFP Photo.

TOKYO: Japan's core machinery orders jumped in November for the second straight month of gains, a sign companies may ramp up investment to meet strong domestic demand and boding well for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to revive the economy.

Companies have been slow to expand investment, so evidence that capital expenditure will grow this year would be a positive for the growth outlook, helping to quicken progress toward ending years of grinding deflation.