Forex News | Currency News by Forexlive

So much for risk-off Friday. The JPY crosses are moving higher again; USD/JPY has broken through 83.50, EUR/JPY is at 10-month highs and AUD/JPY similarly.

Technical resistance levls to watch in the crosses are at 88.00 in AUD/JPY and 118.45 in EUR/JPY.

Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector.

– Tankan Result Doesn’t Fully Reflect Earthquake Impact
– On Monday, BOJ To Release Tankan Index Before and After Quake

TOKYO (MNI) – The closely-watched Bank of Japan corporate sentiment
survey posted an unexpected rise in March, although three-quarters of
the responses were received before the devastating March 11 earthquake
and tsunami struck.

The Tankan survey headline index — showing current business
sentiment among large manufacturers — improved to +6 in March from +5
in December.

But survey respondents expected the index to worsen again to +2 in
June.

The previous Tankan survey reading in December had worsened for the
first time in seven quarters.

The benchmark March figure came in better than the MNI survey’s
median of +3, with economists’ forecasts ranging from -3 to +7.

The results suggest business sentiment was improving before the
quake, having eased in December on worries about the economy.

Because the results don’t reflect the full impact on sentiment from
the March 11 disaster, they won’t ease concern among BOJ board member
about downside risks to Japan’s economy.

The BOJ conducted the Tankan survey between Feb. 24 and Mar. 31,
with about 72% of surveyed firms responding by March 11, the day of the
earthquake.

The BOJ said that it will release on Monday two versions of the
headline index, one from responses before the quake and one based on
responses after. The data will be released at 0850 JST (2350 GMT
Sunday).

“Because the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake occurred on March 11,
the environment in which the sample enterprises completed their survey
forms changed significantly.”

“Under such extraordinary circumstances, the BOJ has decided to
release reference data for the Diffusion Index of Business conditions in
two parts; aggregates of the survey form returned to the BOJ from
February 24 to March 11, and aggregates of the survey form returned to
the BOJ from March 12 to March 31,” it said.

Heightened concern over the outlook for Japan’s economy after the
quake is outweighing the benefits from the recovering global economy.

The diffusion index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of
companies reporting deteriorating business conditions from the
percentage of those reporting an improvement. A positive figure
indicates the majority of firms see better business conditions.

Japanese business sentiment had improved six straight quarters
through September, but slid back in December on a drop in exports and
production due to the slowing of overseas economies.

The yen’s strength also weighed on business sentiment.

A strong yen threatens to depress Japan’s economy by eroding the
profits of exporters.

The yen rose to a record high of Y76.25 versus the dollar on March
17, breaking the previous record of Y79.75 hit in April 1995, three
months after the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit the western Japanese city
of Kobe.

On March 18, the Group of Seven industrial nations conducted
concerted yen-selling intervention that successfully weakened the
Japanese currency.

The assumed dollar-yen exchange rate expected by major
manufacturers this fiscal year is Y84.20, according to the March survey,
compared with an average Y86.47 in the last fiscal year ended on March
31.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4833 **

[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MMJBJ$,MAJDS$,MT$$$$]

I presume all of the good numbers are already taken but there will be some outliers still available. Click on this link and give it your best shot.

JAPAN DATA: March Tankan survey from the Bank of Japan (1):
– BOJ March Tankan Large Manufacturer Index +6 Vs Dec +5
– BOJ March Tankan Large Manufacture Index MNI Poll Median Forecast +3

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