Japan Dec core machinery orders -0.7 pct m/m

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, fell 0.7 per cent in December from the previous month, government data showed on Friday.

That was in line with economists' forecasts and followed a 3.8 per cent rise in November, the Cabinet Office said.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, which exclude those for ships and machinery at electric power firms, fell 3.8 percent, against a 4.1 percent decline forecast in a Reuters poll.

Manufacturers surveyed by the Cabinet Office forecast that core orders, a highly volatile series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, will show a rise 2.2 percent for January-March from the previous quarter.

In October-December, orders rose 2.0 percent from the previous quarter.

The Cabinet Office had initially forecast an increase of 5.7 per cent in the three months to December.

REUTERS DKS BST0610