Business sentiment for large enterprises generally came out better than expected for both manufacturers and non-manufactures. As seen in the chart current conditions continued to improve and are expec...

GDP growth was much stronger than expected and Japan, for the second quarter in a row, was the strongest performing G7 economy. Significantly, private domestic demand improved substantially due to bot...

For Q3 as a whole industrial production is up 8.3% q/q following a 7.3% q/q increase in Q2. Based on production plans it appears growth in industrial production in Q4 will increase close to 7% q/q. As...

The Tankan business survey compiled by Bank of Japan suggests the recovery remains in place and the early recovery phase is likely to be quite strong. Both manufacturers and non-manufacturers report t...

As widely expected GDP growth rebounded in Q2 to 0.9% q/q from a revised -3.1% q/q growth rate in Q1, leading to the first positive growth rate in five quarters. The growth was mainly driven by privat...

According to the Tankan business survey compiled by Bank of Japan business conditions in Q2 improved more than expected by enterprises in Q1 and the surveyed enterprises expect the improvements in bus...

Another batch of economic data was released overnight. JMMA manufacturing PMI increased less than we expected. In light of industrial production growing at record pace in April and May and very strong...

Industrial production in May increased for the third month in a row and just managed to match the record increase in industrial production set in the previous month. According to productions plans, ma...

On the surface today's foreign data may look a little disappointing, but the detail remains strong. As there were two working days less in May this year compared with last year we really should not pl...

Machinery orders in April declined by more than expected. Domestic machinery orders excluding volatile items such as ships dropped by more than 5% m/m in April following a slight contraction in March....

Today's data confirm that we are likely to see a strong rebound in industrial activity during the summer in Japan. Industrial production increased more than expected in April and importantly, manufact...

Monetary meetings well become less eventful and more predictable. With signs of the economy improving there will be no quantitative easing initiatives from Bank of Japan (BoJ). The most exciting thing...

The Japanese economy contracted by a record last quarter as exports continued to shrink. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted at an annual 15.2% in the three months ended March 31. Despite the poor...

Retail sales in Japan have declined again, for a seventh straight month, in March. Sales declined 3.9 percent on the month from one year ago. This was after dropping 5.7 percent the previous month. Th...

The Tankan index of Japanese business sentiment plunged from a reading of -24 in the fourth quarter of last year to -58 in the first quarter, slightly edging out the all-time low set in the deep reces...

The Q1 Tankan business survey released overnight by Bank of Japan (BoJ) was as expected very weak, mostly due to the severe deterioration in the Japanese economy since the last Tankan survey in Decemb...

The Tankan business confidence survey, which includes some of the largest companies in Japan, has fallen to a new low of -58. This is a sign that the country may be in for an extended recession as com...

Japans unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, increased to 4.4 percent in January. The loss of jobs and high unemployment rate is at the highest levels in more than 30 years. Global sales have declin...

The Japanese manufacturing PMI came in slightly higher than the previous reading of 31.6 to an actual 33.8 in February. Meanwhile the manufacturing output rose to 25.9 from a 22.7. A reading below 50 ...

The Japanese all industry activity index came in at negative 1.7 percent for the month when compared to the previous month. The index fell less than the expected 2.0 percent economists had expected. T...

Japans Tertiary Industry Activity Index increased 0.4 percent month over month in January. This was against analysts expectations for a 0.5 percent drop. Sectors that contributed to the increase in th...

The Japanese economy has shrunk by an annualized 12.1 percent pace during the last quarter due to lowered business spending and a loss of exports as the global recession takes hold. In the three month...

The Japanese economy has shrunk by an annualized 12.1 percent pace during the last quarter due to lowered business spending and a loss of exports as the global recession takes hold. In the three month...

Domestic corporate goods prices came in lower than expected with a reading of -1.1 percent as wholesale prices fell at a faster pace during February as the global recession slashed the cost of energy ...

Machinery orders for Japan fell by 3.2 percent in January which is much better than the 4.9 percent fall that analysts had been expecting. This is fourth continuous month in which machine orders fell....

Japan had its first deficit in the last 13 years (in the current account in January) due to the global recession killing demand for exports. The global slump has eroded earnings, which has prompted co...

Capital spending in Japan has fallen by 17.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008. This is a steeper drop than the 15.6 percent decrease which was expected by economists. Spending was cut in the ...

A flood of economic data has been released overnight. The main message is that the Japanese economy continues to deteriorate at an unprecedented pace but there are signs that the economy will soon sta...

Industrial production for January plummeted to a new low for a third consecutive month. The report indicates that production has fallen by 10.0 percent from one month earlier. This indicates that more...

Japans consumer prices have fallen to a flat 0.0 percent reading in January for the first time in over a year as a deepening recession has forced many households to curb spending. Record declines seen...

Japans unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, increased to 4.1 percent in January. This report comes in lower than analysts’ expectations of a 4.6 percent reading. The actual number of employed perso...

Household Spending in Japan declined by 5.9 percent in January, this is more than the 5.6 percent fall that analysts had expected. The largest declines seen were in the transportation and communicatio...

There is no sign of stabilisation in exports in the Japanese January trade figures released overnight. In real terms exports plunged 15.7% m/m following a 9% m/m decline in December last year (see cha...

The trade balance in Japan has plummeted by 45.7 percent from one year earlier. This is after a 35 percent fall seen the previous month and is the sharpest decline seen since 1980. The gross domestic ...

The corporate services price index fell to -2.2 percent for the month as commodity prices tumbled and a deepening recession caused companies to slow spending. Advertising agencies have been especially...

Japans tertiary industry activity index decreased 1.6 percent for December. This report comes in as expected by economists and is the second month in a row to have such a fall. This decrease is in lar...

Pressure on the Bank of Japan (BoJ) for unorthodox easing measures is likely to increase, but in our opinion the BoJ is unlikely to cut its leading O/N target rate (currently at 0.1%) any further. The...

Japan's Gross Domestic Product fell for the third consecutive quarter in the final three months of 2008, by -3.3% as demand for the Asian country's flagship goods such as cars and electronics took a d...

Japanese growth contracted by 3.3 percent during the fourth quarter, which was below market expectations for a 3.1 percent decrease. This is the third month that the GDP has contracted in the worlds s...

Domestic corporate goods prices came in lower than expected for the first time in more than five years with a reading of -0.2 percent. This is the first decline seen since December of 2003. The chief ...

Machinery orders for Japan fell by 1.7 percent in December which is much better than the 8.6 percent fall that analysts had been expecting. This is third continous month in which machine orders fell. ...

Several important Japanese indicators were released overnight including industrial production, unemployment rate and inflation (see below for details). The releases make horrible reading. Japan is cur...

Industrial production for December plummeted to a new low for a second consecutive month. The report indicates that production has fallen to 9.6 percent from one month earlier. The Japanese ministry o...

Falling fuel prices have taken a toll on the price pressures that have been seen recently in Japan, sending inflation rates lower for the month of December. The CPI fell from a 1.0 percent reading in ...

Japans unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, increased to 4.4 percent in December. This is despite expectations for it to hold rise to only 4.1 percent. Economists predict that this is due to compan...

Retail sales in Japan have slumped for a fourth straight month in December. This is further proof that the economy has fallen into a recession. Retail sales have decline 2.7 percent and was the worst ...

The corporate services price index fell to -2.5 percent for the month, making this the third month in a row to show a decline as oil and commodities prices fall and the nation enters a recession. The ...

The Japanese all industry activity index came in at negative 2.3 percent for the month of November which was slightly worse than analysts expectations of a 2.3 percent reading. Among the individual se...

Japan has posted a trade deficit of 320.7 billion yen in December, the third month in a row that has posted a deficit. This represents a massive 35 percent fall in December from one year ago signifyin...

Japans tertiary industry activity index decreased 0.9 percent for November. This was slightly worse than analysts’ expectation of a 0.8 percent drop. The previous figure of 0.4 percent for October has...