Confidence growing in Japan's economy

TOKYO - Big Japanese manufacturers felt slightly more confident in September than they did three months earlier, the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey showed today, indicating that companies are benefiting from firm domestic demand that has also boosted their share prices.

The survey's headline diffusion index (DI) for big manufacturers improved to plus 19 in September from plus 18 in June. That compared with economists' median forecast of plus 20.

The tankan also showed large companies plan to raise capital spending by 9.3 per cent in the business year ending next March. That was below economists' forecast of a 10.0 per cent rise.

- REUTERS