— See Separate Table For Details of Individual Forecasts
TOKYO (MNI) – Combined investment in equipment (including software)
by non-financial firms in Japan is expected to have shrunk 6.4% on year
in October-December, posting the third straight quarterly y/y fall after
-9.8% in Q3, -7.8% in Q2 and +3.0% in Q1, according to the median
forecast of economists surveyed by Market News International.
The Ministry of Finance will release the data as part of its
quarterly business survey at 0850 JST on Thursday, Mar. 1 (2350 GMT
Wednesday).
The Cabinet Office will release revised Q4 GDP data on Thursday,
Mar. 8, after taking into account the demand side of capex and
private-sector inventory changes based on the MOF survey.
In the preliminary data released on Feb. 13, GDP fell a real 0.6%
q/q (annualized -2.3%) in the final quarter of 2011 while capex rose
1.9% q/q (annualized +7.9%).
Mari Iwashita, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, forecast
Q4 capex will show a 6.4% y/y fall in the MOF data, which means that
capital investment in revised GDP would show no change from the
preliminary reading.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, Q4 capital spending (excluding
software) in the MOF data is forecast by economists to have risen 2.7%
from the previous quarter, posting the first gain in five quarters after
-2.7% q/q in Q3 and -6.3% in Q2.
skodama@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4838 **
[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$]
