Caterpillar Machine Sales Underscore Distress Signals From Asia

(Bloomberg) -- Caterpillar Inc.’s global machine sales have slowed for seven straight months, and a closer look at the numbers shows why the heavy-equipment maker has flagged a slowdown in Asia this year.

Asia-Pacific sales in January slumped 4 percent from a year earlier on a three-month rolling basis, according to a filing Wednesday from the Deerfield, Illinois-based company. That marked its first contraction in the region since mid-2016, underscoring concerns over the global economic-growth outlook.

Caterpillar, considered an economic bellwether, said when it reported earnings last month that it expects only “modest’’ revenue growth in 2019, fueling the biggest sell-off in its shares in more than seven years. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Bonfield said in an interview the same day that total excavator sales will “be about flat year-on-year’’ in China.

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