Bank of Japan Tankan for Q2
In brief:
- Big manufacturing sentiment improved for the 3rd consecutive quarter and is now at its highest since March of 2014
- Big non-manufacturing sentiment up for its second successive quarter, to its highest since December of 2015
- Small manufacturing sentiment improvement now stretching to 4 quarters straight, highest since March of 2007
- Big manufacturers see the USD averaging 108.31 yen for FY 17/18 (compared to the March Tankan survey projection at 108.43)
The numbers:
Tankan Large Manufacturing Index 17
- expected 15, prior was 12
Tankan Large Non-Manufacturing Index 23
- expected 23, prior was 20
Tankan Large Manufacturing Outlook 15
- expected 14, prior was 11
Tankan Large Non-Manufacturing Outlook 18
- expected 21, prior was 16
Tankan Small Manufacturing Index 7
- expected 7, prior was 5
Tankan Small Non-Manufacturing Index 7
- expected 6, prior was 4
Tankan Small Manufacturing Outlook 6
- expected 4, prior was 0
Tankan Small Non-Manufacturing Outlook 2
- expected 3, prior was -1
Tankan Large All Industry Capex 8.0%
- expected 7.2%, prior was 0.6%
--
Some mixed results but on balance more evidence of improvement in the Japanese economy. There is a tug of war going on with implications of an improving economy combined with a still woeful miss on the BOJ inflation target. Better data for the economy implies a reduced need for Bank of Japan monetary policy accommodation, but the missing inflation target implies the exact opposite.
