Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent in May from April for the second straight monthly decline, the government said Monday. 
The orders, widely viewed as a leading indicator of future capital spending, totaled 785.0 billion yen ($7.8 billion), the Cabinet Office said. The decline followed an 11.0 percent drop in April. 
The government downgraded its basic assessment of core machinery orders, saying they are now "at a standstill." For April data, it said orders declined sharply though they had shown "signs of picking up." Orders from the manufacturing sector dropped 6.4 percent to 311.5 billion yen, while those from the nonmanufacturing sector fell 0.3 percent to 473.8 billion yen. 
Total orders, also including those from the domestic public sector and abroad, plunged 11.5 percent to 2.01 trillion yen. 
Overseas demand for Japanese machinery, an indicator of future exports, slid 14.8 percent to 740.7 billion yen.