Confidence among Japan's biggest manufacturers was unchanged this quarter after slipping for three consecutive surveys, central bank data showed on Friday. The Bank of Japan's Tankan report - a quarterly survey of about 10,000 companies - showed a reading of 19 among major manufacturers in its December survey.
The reading was unchanged from the previous quarter, when corporate confidence was down for the third time in a row. Economists say the impact of major earthquakes and typhoons that affected Japan's regional economies this year has receded, but worries over a US-China trade dispute weighed on corporate confidence. "This cautious sentiment among big manufacturers is expected to continue for now," Koichi Ishida, an economist at the Japan Research Institute, told AFP.
The index for non-manufacturers recovered, rising to 24 from 22 in the previous quarter. The Tankan report, the broadest indicator of how Japan Inc. is faring, marks the difference between the percentage of firms that are upbeat and those that see conditions as unfavourable.