| English.news.cn 2011-07-01 08:48:58 |  Feedback  Print RSS  |
TOKYO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Business confidence among Japan's largest manufacturers dropped sharply in the three months to June from the previous quarter, due to fallout from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said in a report on Friday.
The quarterly Tankan diffusion index of sentiment at large Japanese manufacturers fell to minus 9 in June, following a reading of plus 6 in March and 5 in December.
The reading was lower than median economists' forecasts for minus 6 and marked the first time the index has turned negative in five quarters, the BOJ's data showed.
A positive reading means optimists outnumber pessimists regarding business conditions and the diffusion index gauges the percentage of companies reporting favorable business conditions minus those reporting negative conditions.
The central bank's survey also showed that sentiment among major non-manufacturers dropped to minus 5 from plus 3 in the previous quarter.
The survey showed big companies in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors plan to increase capital investment by 4.2 percent in fiscal 2011, accelerating away from a 0.4 percent projection in the previous survey.
In addition the survey showed that large manufacturers expect conditions to improve over the next three months with the index for September seen at plus 2, slightly below median market expectations for a reading of plus 3.
Editor: Xiong Tong |
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