An index measuring business sentiment in Japan weakened in the third quarter of 2015, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday in its quarterly Tankan business survey.
The large manufacturers’ index came in with a score of 12, missing forecasts for 13 and down from 15 in the previous quarter.
The outlook came in with a score of 10, matching forecasts but down sharply from 16 in the three months prior.
The survey is closely watched by the Bank of Japan for formulating policies.
Large industry capex for the current fiscal year is now seen higher by 10.9 percent, well above forecasts for an increase of 8.7 percent and up from 9.3 percent expected in the second quarter.
The large non-manufacturers index was at 25, beating expectations for 20 and up from 23 in the previous quarter. The outlook score was 19 versus, matching forecasts and down from 21 in the second quarter.
The small manufacturing index came in at 0, beating expectations for -2 and unchanged from the second quarter. The outlook was -2, topping forecasts for -4 but down from 0 in the second quarter.
The small non-manufacturing index had a score of 3, topping forecasts for 1 but down from 4 in the previous quarter. The outlook came in at 1, beating forecasts for 0 and unchanged from the three months prior.
For medium-sized enterprises, the manufacturing index came in at 5, up from 2 in the three months prior. The outlook was 4. The non-manufacturing index came in at 17, up from 16 in Q2 and with an outlook of 13.
The sentiment indexes are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A positive reading means optimists outnumber pessimists.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com