Japan's small business sentiment deteriorated for a second month in May, Shoko Chukin Bank said Tuesday.
The corresponding index dropped by 0.4 points to 47.2 in May. A reading below 50 indicates that pessimists outnumber optimists.
Confidence among manufacturers dipped to 44.4 from 45.8, while non-manufacturers sentiment rose to 49.5 from 49.1 a month ago.
At the same time, the forward-looking overall business confidence index improved to 48.2 for June.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com