Large manufacturing in Japan saw some improvement in the first quarter of 2021, the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment showed on Thursday with a diffusion index score of +5.
That beat forecasts for a reading of 0 as expectations were very soft because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The Q1 reading was up from a score of -10 three months ago.
The outlook came in at +4, matching expectations and up from -8 in the previous quarter.
Large all industry capex is now seen higher by 3.0 percent, beating forecasts for a gain of 1.4 percent following the 1.2 percent contraction in the previous three months.
The large non-manufacturers index came in at -1, beating forecasts for -5, which would have been unchanged. The outlook also came in at -1, topping forecasts for -2 and up from -6 in the three months prior.
The medium manufacturers index was -2 with an outlook for -6, while the medium non-manufacturers index was at -11 with an outlook of -12.
The small manufacturing index was at -13, beating forecasts for -20 and up from -27, while the outlook was at -12. The small non-manufacturing index was at -11, while the outlook was at -16.
The index for manufacturing business conditions came in at +5 for large enterprises, -2 for medium and -13 for small.
Sales for FY2021 are seen at +2.6 for large manufacturers and +1.7 for large non-manufacturers; +4.2 for medium manufacturers and +2.9 for medium non-manufacturers; and +3.3 for small manufacturers and +2.0 for small non-manufacturers.
Profits for FY2021 are seen at +1.8 for large manufacturers and +5.6 for large non-manufacturers; +5.4 for medium manufacturers and +16.9 for medium non-manufacturers; and +20.6 for small manufacturers and +22.9 for small non-manufacturers.
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