Corporate sentiment plunged through all sectors in the March "tankan" survey for the first time in 10 quarters, the Bank of Japan reported Monday.

According to the BOJ's quarterly survey gauging business sentiment, the diffusion index -- the percentage of firms that believe business is favorable minus those that feel the opposite -- fell 15 percentage points for large manufacturers to minus 5. The index worsened for the first time since December 1998.

It is the first time in nine quarters that the index for large manufacturers -- whose capital expenditures had been one of the few engines pulling the economy -- worsened from the previous quarter.