Via Reuters monthly Tankan report. The manufacturing i ndex hits its highest since December 2018.
Manufacturers' sentiment index +21
- vs April +13
Service sector index +2 in May (first positive reading since the early months of 2020)
- vs -3 in April
Outlooks ...
- manufacturers' business confidence was seen unchanged at 21 in August
- service-sector firms was forecast to rise to 13
Comments via the report:
- manufacturers benefited from stronger overseas demand, a sign that the export-driven economic recovery remained intact
- improvement in confidence was somewhat patchy, with firms saying they were feeling the drag from the coronavirus pandemic
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The background to this survey is that m uch of Japan, including Tokyo and Osaka, are under a state of emergency until the end of the month (at least).
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Reuters monthly Tankan seeks to fill in the gap left by the quarterly BOJ survey of the same name.
- poll conducted May 6-17
- survey of 482 large- and mid-sized companies, in which 236 firms responded
- Reuters Tankan index readings are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A negative reading means pessimists outnumber optimists.
