© Reuters. People walk on a crosswalk at a business district in central Tokyo, Japan September 29, 2017. Picture taken September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toru HanaiTOKYO - Japanese manufacturers' business confidence improved for the first time since August while service-sector mood rose for a second month, according to the Reuters Tankan poll, which also highlighted a challenging outlook amid a patchy economic recovery.
In the Reuters poll of 502 large- and mid-sized companies, in which half of them responded on condition of anonymity, many firms complained about higher import costs of raw materials and deterioration of Japan's key markets such as China. The index is expected to fall to plus 21 over the coming three months, boding ill for domestic consumption which has failed to fire up despite the end of COVID curbs earlier this year.