Capital spending in Japan was down 21.7 percent on year in the second quarter of 2009, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday - beating forecasts for a 23.0 percent annual contraction following the 25.3 percent fall in the first quarter.
Minus software, capex was down 22.2 percent on year - again beating expectations for a 27.5 percent annual decline after the 25.4 percent contraction in the previous three months.
In a survey of firms, the Ministry of Finance found that current profits are down 53 percent on year for the eighth consecutive quarter of decline. Also, sales were down an annual 17 percent, the data showed, falling for the sixth straight quarter.
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