Japanese confidence takes a tumble
Confidence among Japanese manufacturers fell to a five-year low in April as a weak dollar, high raw materials costs and sluggish domestic demand weigh on business, a survey showed.
The survey of 230 major firms showed that manufacturers were slightly more upbeat about the outlook for three months ahead while the service sector was less optimistic.
Revised government figures also showed industrial output rose 1.6 percent in February from a month earlier, the fastest pace since last October. But the data didn't change the view that corporate activity was slowing down, analysts said.
"It gives more evidence that real economic conditions are deteriorating at a faster pace than the central bank thinks," Morgan Stanley Japan Chief Economist Takehiro Sato said.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/18/2008 page17)
