- The sentiment index for small non-manufacturers turned positive for the first time in 21 years with an increase to 4, while the reading for small manufacturers was 1, the first positive number for six years.
- However, large Japanese companies have scaled back their capex projections, expecting to increase FY 2014 spending by 4.6% vs a forecast of 5.1% three months ago.
- "We still don’t find any evidence that corporates are really starting to get confident about the sustainability of the recovery and actually ramping up domestic investment," says HSBC economist Izumi Devalier. "And that remains a worry in an environment where consumption is going to weaken next year."
- The Nikkei is -1.6% and the USD-JPY is -0.2% at $103.03. (Previous) (Full report)
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