Big Japanese firms were less upbeat about business conditions in the year's first quarter and planned to cut back on capital spending, a survey showed today.
The business survey index (BSI) for the January-March quarter fell to plus 0.6 from plus 2.1 in October-December, according to the survey of 10,796 companies by the Ministry of Finance and the Economic and Social Research Institute, an arm of the Cabinet Office.
A breakdown showed that the BSI for large manufacturers fell to minus 7.6 in January-March from minus 1.3 in October-December, while the index for large non-manufacturers was slightly higher at plus 5.5 from plus 4.1.
But on the outlook, responses for the coming months showed the BSI for all big firms higher at plus 3.6 for April-June and plus 9.8 for July-September.
The BSI subtracts the percentage of firms saying business conditions are unfavourable from those reporting they are favourable.
Separate government data showed activity in Japan's service industries improved in January, keeping alive recent expectations that domestic demand was recovering.