Drop in Japanese machinery orders

Japanese core machinery orders fell unexpectedly in February, the second month of declines, but they appeared to be bottoming out, pointing to a further improvement in economic growth.

Underlining the view that the economy is on the mend, corporate bankruptcies fell for the eighth month and sentiment in the service industries hit its highest in three years.

In addition, the current account surplus rose almost a third from a year earlier due to a record annual gain in exports.