Japan's annual wholesale inflation was flat in May, while April machinery orders fell, official statistics showed June 12.

May producer price inflation remained unchanged from April at 2.1% year on year, preliminary Bank of Japan's figures showed.

In monthly terms, however, the index remained flat, the first time it has failed to increase since October. Petroleum and coal products contributed most to the slowdown.

Meanwhile, private-sector machinery orders, excluding volatile orders for ships and from electric power companies, decreased a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in April from the previous month, figures from the Cabinet Office showed June 11.

The indicator reflects capital spending for the next six to nine months. April's monthly change was based on data from 280 manufacturers. It was down from the 1.4% increase the month before and was well below the 1.3% drop forecast by a Reuters poll.

In volume terms, machinery orders were up 2.7% month on month in April, compared to a 1.3% increase the month before.

The figures followed a 0.2 percentage-point downwards revision of first-quarter GDP growth to 0.3% by the Cabinet Office.