- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
Business confidence slumps among Japan's big manufacturers
Japan's largest manufacturers feel less optimistic about business conditions with confidence falling to its lowest level in more than two years, a key survey showed Monday.
The Bank of Japan's closely watched quarterly Tankan survey is considered the broadest indicator of how Japanese businesses are faring.
It reports the difference between the percentage of firms that are upbeat and those that see conditions as unfavourable.
Among major manufacturers, business confidence fell to plus one from plus seven three months earlier.
The reading was the lowest since December 2020, marking the fifth quarterly drop in sentiment, and was below market expectations of plus four.
Optimism grew slightly among non-manufacturers, however, from 19 to 20. A positive figure means more businesses feel optimistic than pessimistic.
During the fraught first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, in June 2020, the Tankan score for Japan's big manufacturers plunged to minus 34.
Tsuyoshi Ueno, a senior economist at NLI Research Institute, had predicted a drop in the manufacturing reading ahead of the survey's release on Monday.
"Business confidence among large manufacturers is expected to worsen markedly, given high raw material and fuel prices, as overseas demand falls and the global semiconductor market continues to deteriorate," he said.
Central banks around the world have hiked interest rates to tackle soaring inflation linked to the war in Ukraine and other factors, but the Bank of Japan has stuck to its longstanding monetary easing policies.
The BoJ's new governor Kazuo Ueda is due to take the helm this month when Haruhiko Kuroda steps down after a decade in the job.
In February, Ueda said the continuation of monetary easing was "appropriate", warning of uncertainty in financial markets and the global economy.
M.P.Jacobs--CPN