Tokyo, July 01 (QNA) – The Bank of Japan announced on Tuesday an improvement in business confidence among major Japanese companies in June compared to three months ago, marking the first improvement in two quarters.
The bank’s quarterly survey of 9,000 companies showed a slight rise in the business confidence index (Tankan) among domestic companies, especially in the electronics manufacturing sector and the iron and steel and paper industries sectors, while the automobile sector was affected due to the impact of US tariffs.
It was noted that confidence among major retailers, banks, real estate companies, and other non-manufacturing companies declined by one point to reach +34 -the first decrease in two quarters- due to concerns over rising sales prices and consumption expectations.
Major manufacturing companies expect their business confidence index to decline by one point to reach +12 in the next survey to be conducted in September, while major non-manufacturing companies expect the index to decrease by seven points to reach +27. (QNA)