Core machine orders in Japan surged a seasonally adjusted 19.1 percent on month in March, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - worth 936.7 billion yen.
The headline figure shattered forecasts for a 6.0 percent increase following the upwardly revised 4.6 percent contraction in February (originally -8.8 percent).
On a yearly basis, core machine orders spiked 16.1 percent - also blowing past forecasts for an increase of 4.3 percent following the 10.8 percent gain in the previous month.
The total number of machinery orders, including those volatile ones for ships and from electric power companies, gained 4.0 percent on month but eased 0.3 percent on year in March to 2,319.8 billion yen.
Manufacturing orders spiked 23.7 percent on month and 29.5 percent on year to 384.6 billion yen in March, while non-manufacturing orders climbed 8.5 percent on month and 6.6 percent on year to 515.1 billion yen.
Government orders plummeted 18.5 percent on month and 17.6 percent on year to 211.5 billion yen. Orders from overseas added 3.2 percent on month but fell 4.3 percent on year to 942.9 billion yen. Orders from agencies plunged 22.0 percent on month and 29.7 percent on year to 77.6 billion yen.
For the first quarter of 2014, core machine orders were up 4.2 percent on quarter and 16.4 percent on year to 2,547.4 billion yen.
Total orders gained 4.3 percent on quarter and 10.8 percent on year to 6,859.4 billion yen.
For the second quarter of 2014, core machine orders are forecast to have risen 0.4 percent on quarter and 4.5 percent on year to 2,558.6 billion yen.
Among the individual components, manufacturing orders were up 23.7 percent on month in March, and gained 3.9 percent on quarter in Q1. Non-manufacturing orders climbed 10.2 percent on month in March and 3.7 percent on quarter in Q1.
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