Business sentiment in Japan has fallen for the first time in seven quarters as worries about a persistently strong yen and slowing exports hit corporate confidence.
The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment released yesterday showed that the main index for large manufacturers fell to five this month from eight three months ago.
The figure represents the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good minus those saying conditions are unfavorable, with 100 representing the best mood and minus 100 the worst.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The result from the latest tankan — a closely watched barometer of the country’s economic health that helps the central bank guide monetary policy — is slightly better than Kyodo news agency’s average market forecast for a reading of three.
The index had climbed for six straight quarters as Japan mounted a solid recovery from deep recession, but a strong yen and easing global demand are battering exporters, which have been the main drivers of Japan’s growth. Automakers like Toyota Motor Corp are also feeling the impact from the expiration of government subsidies for fuel efficient cars.
“The improvement that began in March 2009 ... came to an end, giving way to deterioration, albeit small,” Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee in a note to clients said.
Readings varied among sectors, he said. Metals and oil companies, which benefited from higher commodity prices, reported improving sentiment, but the mood at automakers tumbled.
The latest result suggests that companies are bracing for tougher times ahead. They predict confidence will keep deteriorating, with large manufacturers saying they expect the index to be in negative territory for the first time since March.
However, companies tend to be cautious when the economy is staging a recovery, said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at -JPMorgan Securities Japan. He doesn’t think the tankan’s prediction for business confidence to become negative will happen.
The Bank of Japan surveyed a total of 11,183 companies between Nov. 11 and Tuesday. Almost 99 percent responded.
Its next policy board meeting is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it would work with US chipmaker Intel Corp to jointly develop and deploy next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and intelligent computing platforms in a move to capture booming demand for AI computing systems. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), said in a statement that the partnership would combine its global manufacturing scale, system integration expertise and AI data center deployment capabilities with Intel’s strengths in processor architecture, silicon technologies and software ecosystem. The companies said they plan to work on equipment used in AI data centers, including server racks powered by
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents would supplant smartphones as the center of people’s digital lives, fundamentally reshaping personal devices and driving a major computing upgrade cycle, Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon said yesterday. In his keynote speech for this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei, Amon said that the rise of "agentic AI" — AI systems capable of reasoning, planning and carrying out tasks autonomously — would transform how people interact with technology across phones, PCs, vehicles and wearable devices. Describing the technology as the next major evolution in computing, Amon said that "2026 is the year of agents.” For decades, smartphones have sat
RSS