(Video: CNBC • Story: International Herald Tribune)
Large Japanese manufacturers turned pessimistic in September for the first time in five years and prepared to tighten their budgets for capital spending as the financial crisis cut into their export markets, a survey from the Bank of Japan showed Wednesday.
The Tankan, an index that tracks sentiment among big manufacturers, slipped to -3 in September from 5 in June, compared with economists’ expectations for a fall to -2.
The survey turned negative shortly before the Japanese economy entered its previous two recessions, and the September reading suggested that Japan was again on track for a recession.
The survey also indicated that the upheaval on Wall Street was stifling global economic growth, although analysts said many companies might have responded to the survey before Lehman Brothers, the U.S. investment bank, collapsed on Sept. 15, shattering confidence in the world’s financial system. Click here for the complete article.
