An index monitoring business sentiment in Japan was unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Bank of Japan said on Monday in its quarterly Tankan business survey.
The large manufacturers' index came in with a score of 12, beating forecasts for 11 and unchanged from the previous quarter.
The outlook came in with a score of 7, well shy of forecasts for 11 and down from 10 in the three months prior.
The survey is closely watched by the Bank of Japan for formulating policies.
Large industry capex for the current fiscal year is now seen higher by 10.8 percent, above forecasts for an increase of 10.2 percent and down slightly from the 10.9 percent expected in the third quarter.
The large non-manufacturers index was at 25, beating expectations for 23 and unchanged from the previous quarter. The outlook score was 18, missing forecasts for 22 and down from 19 in the third quarter.
The small manufacturing index came in at 0, beating expectations for -1 and unchanged from the third quarter. The outlook was -4, missing forecasts for -2 - which would have been unchanged.
The small non-manufacturing index had a score of 5, topping forecasts for 2 and up from 3 in the previous quarter. The outlook came in at 0, in line with forecasts but down from 1 in the three months prior.
For medium-sized enterprises, the manufacturing index came in at 5, steady from the third quarter. The outlook was 0. The non-manufacturing index came in at 19, up from 17 in Q3 but with an outlook of 12.
The sentiment indexes are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good. A positive reading means optimists outnumber pessimists.
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