Reuters Tankan for January 2023:
Manufacturing index +6, down for the first time in 4 months from +12 in December
- manufacturing index seen at +6 in April
Services index +29 in January from +26 in December
- services index seen at +27 in April
Concerns noted in the report:
- weak demand from
China and elsewhere - fragile domestic consumption
- “The Chinese market remains unstable and we cannot foresee a
bright future there. As a result (our) domestic client is taking
a wait-to-see stance,” a paper/pulp maker company wrote in the
survey on condition of anonymity. - A machinery maker manager cited cooling U.S.-China
relations, China’s slowdown, the prolonged war in Ukraine and
the renewed conflict between Israel and Hamas as sources of
concern on the outlook, making clients wary of raising capital
spending.
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Reuters Tankan is a monthly survey that seeks to track the Bank of Japan’s tankan quarterly survey
- respondents spoke on the condition of anonymity
- Reuters Tankan indexes are calculated by subtracting the percentage of pessimistic respondents from optimistic ones. A positive reading means optimists outnumber pessimists.