Business sentiment is continuing to fall at Japanese companies as they struggle against declining exports and prices amid the global economic slump, according to the Bank of Japan's latest "tankan" quarterly survey.
The survey, released Wednesday, showed that the diffusion index measuring corporate sentiment at large manufacturers dropped 5 points to minus 38, falling for the fourth consecutive quarter. The index measures the percentage of companies that believe business conditions are good minus those that believe the opposite.
Large nonmanufacturers saw a 5-point drop to minus 22, while small and midsize firms together saw a 2-point drop to minus 44.