Japanese businesses boosted investment in the second quarter of the year, reaffirming signs of confidence that the economy is recovering slowly with the help of an uptick in domestic demand-led activity.
Capital expenditure on goods excluding software rose 1.9% in the three months through June from the previous quarter, the Finance Ministry reported Monday. The reading was stronger than the gauge for business investment in gross domestic product data released earlier by the Cabinet Office, which showed such spending increased 0.9% from the previous quarter.
Spending on equipment including software grew 7.4% from a year earlier, rising for a 13th consecutive quarter while missing economists’ consensus estimate of a 10% gain. The figures will be factored into revised GDP figures for the second quarter due for release on Sept. 9. Economists will parse the combination of stronger and weaker than expected results as they try to determine how economic growth figures might be revised.