Japan Economy Bottoms Out: Teikoku Databank

Tokyo, March 4 (Jiji Press)--Business sentiment improved across Japan for the first time in 11 months in February, suggesting the Japanese economy has made an upturn, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Wednesday. In the reporting month, the overall business confidence diffusion index stood at 45.1, up 1.2 points from the previous month, and the subindexes improved for all the 10 regions across the country for the first time since March last year, the economic and credit research firm said in a survey report. Favorable effects of growth in automobile exports amid the yen's weakening spread to related industries and oil price falls cut costs at many companies, Teikoku Databank observed. With the slump after the consumption tax hike last April over, the Japanese economy has bottomed out, it said. Teikoku Databank also said the industry-by-industry indexes showed improvement in seven of the 10 sectors surveyed. Besides the manufacturing sector, which includes the robust auto industry, the real estate sector is among the seven because it sees the adverse effects of the tax increase waning, the research firm said, adding Chinese visitors' shopping spree during the Lunar New Year holidays has brightened Japanese retailers' sentiment. Teikoku Databank said the economy would continue recovering moderately. The survey was conducted in the latter half of February on 23,365 companies, with valid responses coming from 45.3 pct. END