An index measuring business sentiment in Japan was unchanged in the first quarter of 2015, the Bank of Japan revealed on Wednesday in its quarterly Tankan business survey.
The large manufacturers’ index came in with a score of 12, missing forecasts for 14, but unchanged from the third quarter.
The outlook score is a little more ominous, suggesting that the index will fall to 10 in the second quarter – shy of forecasts for 16 after showing 9 in the previous three months.
The survey is closely watched by the Bank of Japan for formulating policies.
Large industry capex for the current fiscal year is now seen lower by 1.2 percent, well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent and sharply lower than 8.7 percent expected in the three months prior.
The large non-manufacturers index was at 19, beating expectations for 17 – which would have been unchanged from the previous quarter. The outlook score was 17 versus forecasts for 18 and up from 16 in the fourth quarter.
The small manufacturing index came in at 1, shy of expectations for 4, which would have been unchanged. The outlook was 0, also below forecasts of 4 but still up from -3 in the fourth quarter.
The small non-manufacturing index had a score of 3, beating forecasts for 1, which would have been unchanged from the previous quarter. The outlook came in at -1, matching forecasts and up from -2 in Q4.
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