Japan big companies' sentiment sours in April-June qtr, hurt by Iran war.
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Business sentiment among major Japanese companies worsened for the April-June period, with a key government survey index released Thursday slipping into negative territory for the first time in four quarters, reaching minus 0.5, driven by rising material costs due to the Middle East conflict.
The Business Survey Index measuring companies' economic assessment fell from 4.4 in the previous survey for the January-March quarter as more manufacturers, led by those in the automotive and food sectors, said conditions were declining, the joint survey by the Cabinet Office and the Finance Ministry showed.
Sentiment among major manufacturers deteriorated to minus 1.8, compared to 3.8 in the survey for January-March period, according to the survey.
The poll reflected results as of May 15, more than two months after the launch of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran disrupted shipments of oil products and sent crude prices soaring.
Business confidence among major nonmanufacturers weakened to 0.027 compared to 4.6 in the previous poll, with firms in the construction sector citing price increases of raw materials, the Business Outlook Survey showed.
The survey analyzes business leaders' assessments of and forecasts for the economy and covers responses from more than 10,000 companies that have established their headquarters or principal offices in Japan and have capital stock of 10 million yen ($62,000) or more.
The index is measured by subtracting the percentage of companies that reported worsening business conditions from the percentage that reported improving conditions.
Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260611/p2g/00m/0bu/016000c
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