Taiwan's June export orders unexpectedly contracted for a fifth straight month, slipping 3.5 percent from a year earlier, as demand from China waned. The data points to a loss of momentum for trade-reliant Asian economies who are banking on a pick-up in the United States to buffer a slowdown in China. Taiwan's government has cut the island's growth outlook as it confronts slowing demand from China, its largest export market. Some analysts say the trend could improve in the second half while Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs expects the value of July's export orders to be slightly more than in June. "The U.S. consumer market is slowly improving. We especially expect the consumer market to see a greater recovery in the second-half," said Raymond Yeung of ANZ in Hong Kong. Ten economists in a Reuters poll estimated export orders would rise 0.8 percent, with forecasts ranging between growth of 2.53 percent and a contraction of 1.2 percent. Orders fell 0.4 percent in May, shrank 1.1 percent in April, and dropped 6.6 percent in March. Orders from its two biggest markets were mixed, with mainland China down 1.7 percent and the United States up 2.2 percent. Those from Europe and Japan both shed 10.4 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Demand for PCs remained soft and the growth of high-end smartphones has eased, the economics ministry said. Taiwan's export orders are a leading indicator of demand for Asia's exports and for hi-tech gadgets, and typically lead actual exports by two to three months. Electronics and components makers are hoping for a lift from recovering U.S. consumption but regional factory data has been patchy. TSMC , the world's top contract chip maker, warned investors last week that there will be higher-than-expected inventories in the supply chain in the third quarter. Growth in China's vast manufacturing sector slowed to multi-month lows in June as new orders faltered, boding ill for the world's second-largest economy as it faces tighter credit conditions which could further drag on growth. Earlier this month, Taiwan's purchasing managers' index for June contracted for a second successive month, hit by declines in new orders and new export orders. (Reuters)