5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Japan''s machinery orders plummet 14.5% to 1.04 trillion yen in August.

Japan market averages fell marginally despite intensified efforts from the region''s central bank to add liquidity to the market. Rise in financial and commodity stocks however helped to pare losses.

Market Sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5% or 45.83 to 9.157.49, and the broader Topix Index rose 0.7% or 6.10 to 905.11.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 12.9 billion shares worth 1 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 323 million shares valued at 2.4 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 117 rose, 100 declined, and 8 were unchanged. Resona Holdings led advancers in the index shares with a rise of 9.88% as Asian central bank''s lower their key rates.

Japan Machinery Orders Drop 14.5% in August

Japan''s Cabinet Office reported on its Web site yesterday that total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan fell by 1.2% to 2.4 trillion yen in August and is forecasted to drop by 2.9% or 7.8 trillion yen in the three months to September.

Private-sector machinery orders, excluding volatile ones, slumped 14.5% to 1.04 trillion yen in the review period as in projected to slip 3 % to 3.5 trillion yen in the quarter to September.

Manufacturing orders dipped 13.9% to 395 billion yen and are forecasted to drop 4% to 1.3 trillion yen in the July- September period.

Non-manufacturing orders plummeted 14.9% to 500 billion yen in August, and it is estimated that orders in the sector will decline 3% to 1.7 trillion yen in the period between July and September.

The cabinet office also added that government orders plummeted 4.4% to 219 billion yen, while orders are forecasted to tumble 1.5% to 728 billion yen in the quarter to September.

However, overseas orders spiked 14.8% to 1 trillion yen in August, but orders are projected to decline 0.1% to 3.3 trillion yen in the three months to September.

Although orders for agencies plunged 10.6% to 91.4 billion yen in August, it is forecasted that orders in the sector will gain 6.4% to 354 billion yen in the July-September period.

Office Vacancy Rate Rise to 4.07% in September

The Nikkei News reported on its Web site today that real estate broker Miki Shoji revealed that Tokyo''s office vacancy rate rose 0.21 percentage points to 4.07% at the end of September, reflecting a jump for the eighth consecutive month.

Asian Central Banks Slash Rates

Asian central banks ratcheted up efforts to provide liquidity as the interbank markets continued to be tight. In particular, China yesterday cut its key lending rate by 0.5% and lowered the cash reserve ratio requirement for banks after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the rate by 0.5%.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority lowered its base rate by 100 basis points to 2.3%, while Bank of Korea slashed its seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5%.

The Bank of Japan this week kept its key rate at 0.5%, which is the lowest among the seven industrialized countries, but pumped 4 trillion yen today.