The central bank's quarterly survey showed the business
sentiment index among big makers in the world's third-largest economy stood at plus 4, a jump from minus 8 in the previous March survey.
The central bank said in its Tankan survey report released before the opening bell that the
sentiment index in December dropped to minus 4 from September's plus 2 for the first decline in two quarters, due apparently to the recent sharp rise of the yen, which has slowed the country's exports.
For other February surveys, the Michigan
sentiment index rose to 99.9 in February from 95.7, the IBD/TIPP index popped to a 56.7 new cycle-high from 55.1, and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort index is forming a 56.0 cycle-high average in February from 53.9 in January.
The central bank's quarterly survey showed the business
sentiment index among Japan's big makers, a key indicator of Japanese business trends, dropped to minus 12 in December, compared with minus 3 in the previous September survey.
The
sentiment index covering companies capitalized at 1 billion yen or more slid to minus 2.5 from the previous quarter's plus 6.6.
consumer
sentiment index fell 0.2 points to 95.7 in the final January print from the University of Michigan survey (it was 94.4 in the January preliminary) after sliding 2.6 points to 95.9 in December.
The central bank's quarterly survey showed the business
sentiment index among big makers in the world's third-largest economy stood at minus 1, compared with minus 4 in the previous March survey.
The average forecast of the research institutes polled put the
sentiment index for big manufacturers at minus 3, an improvement of 11 points from the previous poll in March and comparable to the reading in the Tankan survey in September 2008 just before the so-called Lehman shock.
NAHB homebuilder
sentiment index fell 2 points to 72 in January after jumping 5 points to 74 in December (the December gain was the largest since March and was the highest level since July 1999).
