Reuters Tankan shows Japan manufacturers index -4 in August vs +3 in Jul.y

  • lowest reading since April 2013
  • and this is the first negative reading for the index in over 6 years

Non-manufacturers index +13 in August vs +25 in July

Manufacturers November index seen at +3, non-manufacturers seen unchanged

Commentary via Reuters ...nails it:

  • Concerns about weakening global demand intensified
  • growing risk of a U.S. recession
  • Germany's economy in contraction
  • China's economy was worsening
  • further soured the outlook for export-reliant economies such as Japan's

More:

  • "The U.S.-China trade war, Japan's export curbs to South Korea and the recent yen rises have formed a bottleneck for sales"
  • "The selling price remains in a downtrend due to expansion of e-commerce markets, while a scheduled sales tax hike keep shoppers on guard against price increases"

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The Reuters monthly poll, tracks the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) tankan quarterly survey

  • conducted July 31-Aug 14
  • total of 258 firms responded

I dunno what WTF is in Japanese, maybe something like this?