Japan's industrial output up 1.8 per cent in October

Japan's industrial production was up a seasonally adjusted 1.8 per cent month-on-month in October, the ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI) said in today's preliminary reading. This is the first the country's industrial production increased in four months.

The headline figure beat expectations of a 2.0 per cent decline following the 4.1 per cent decline in September.

On yearly basis, industrial production was down 4.3 per cent - as against forecasts of a fall of 8.0 per cent after an 8.1 per cent fall in the previous month.

METI, however, maintained its assessment of a downtrend in industrial production.

Among the industries that contributed to the increase in October were electronic parts, fabricated metals and transport equipment, while commodities contributing to the decline included metal oxide semiconductor ICs, active matrix LCDs and photovoltaic modules.

According to the survey of manufacturing, production was expected to fall 0.1 per cent in November and rise 7.5 per cent in December. Industries contributing to the fall in November included transport equipment, electronics equipment and iron and steel.