Confidence among Japan’s small and medium-sized enterprises decreased in December, after increasing in the previous month, survey figures released by the Shoko Chukin Bank showed Monday.

The small business confidence index dropped to 48.3 in December from 49.9 in the previous month. In October, the reading was 48.7.

The index measuring confidence in the manufacturing sector fell to 46.6 in December from 49.6 in November.

Similarly, the morale for the non-manufacturing sector weakened in December, with the index falling to 49.6 from 50.2.

The overall business confidence index for January is expect to decline to 48.0. The survey participants forecast the manufacturing confidence to climb to 47.1, while the non-manufacturing confidence to decrease to 48.6.

Marcel Thieliant, an economist at Capital Economics said a modest deterioration in confidence is normal at this time of the year, so these forecasts suggest that conditions should remain broadly stable for now.

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