Japan's Cabinet Office released May machinery orders statistics, showing that private-sector orders excluding ships and power, a leading indicator of capital spending, fell 12.4 percent from the previous month. It was the first decline in two months, and came in below the Reuters poll forecast of a 4.2 percent drop. Compared with a year earlier, orders were down 1.9 percent. The Cabinet Office kept its assessment of machinery orders unchanged, saying they are showing signs of a pickup.