TOKYO Japan's core machinery orders fell 3.9% in March from the previous month, government data showed on Monday, worse than a 0.7% gain expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Compared with a year earlier, core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, fell 3.5% in March, versus a forecast of 1.4% rise, the Cabinet Office data found.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Kim Coghill)