Japan business mood dims for a 2nd quarter as costs rise: BOJ Tankan

Jul 01 (Nikkei) - Business sentiment among Japan's large manufacturers cooled for the second straight quarter amid economic headwinds, including the war in Ukraine, the extended lockdown in China, and global supply shortages and inflation, the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan survey showed Friday.

The headline diffusion index (DI) of sentiment among large manufacturers came to plus 9 for June, compared with plus 14 in March.

Economists had predicted a reading of plus 12, according to a Nikkei survey of 21 forecasters.

The headline figure was weighed down by a slump in sentiment in basic materials sectors, such as steel, whose profit margins have been squeezed by higher commodity prices and the weaker yen, while "sentiment at the auto industry didn't deteriorate as much as feared despite the parts shortages caused by the extended COVID lockdown in China," said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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