Japan Machinery Orders Fall in November 2007

Japan's machinery orders fell last November as companies seem to have cut back on spending in anticipation the U.S. slowdown will spread to Europe and Asia and hurt Japanese exports. Orders fell 2.8 percent from October, a month in which they rose 12.7 percent, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo today. The Topix stock index also fell 3.5 percent today, following an unexpected drop in U.S. retail