Tankan Index Hits Four Year Low

Just to follow up briefly on yesterday's post, the results of the latest Tankan index of manufacturer sentiment is now out, and it shows that confidence among major Japanese manufacturers fell to its lowest level in more than four years as the plunging dollar in this quarter. The closely watched quarterly central bank "tankan" survey, released this morning, showed a fallll to 11, eight points

Japan Industrial Output February 2008, Updated

Japan's manufacturers cut production for the second consecutive month in February, and output fell month on month by 1.2 percent from January, when it also dropped by 2.2 percent, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. The seasonally adjusted index is now, as can be seen in the chart, at its lowest level since last July when Japan was suffering from earthquake issues. This means that Japanese

Japan Inflation and Unemployment February 2008

Japan's consumer prices rose again in February, according to the general index, while the unemployment rate increased for the first time in five months, reinforcing concerns that the economy maybe heading into a recession. Core prices, which exclude fruit, fish and vegetables, climbed 1 percent in February from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. Core prices started rising

Japan Exports February 2008

Japan's export growth resumed its upward march in February as demand from emerging markets, and especially in Asia, continued to surge strongly. Exports, which accounted for over half of the Japanese economy's growth last quarter, climbed 8.7 percent from a year earlier after increasing 7.6 percent in January, according to the latest data from the Finance Ministry in Tokyo today. If we look at

Ms Watanabe Not Easily Deterred

As Bloomberg puts it on their news site sometimes markets roar and sometimes they whisper. In the last couple of weeks they have certainly roared as the crisis in financial markets have haunted the steps of Wall Street bankers and the Fed. At this point in time we are wearily waiting in Europe to see whether (or more precisely when and where) the fangs of the credit crunch will take hold. In the

The BOJ Debacle, better than Shakespeare

As most of our readers without a doubt have discovered most of the action is taking place in the US at the moment as the credit turmoil has moved from sporadid skirmishes to a full blown bataille. However, the US is not the only place where the sh't is waiting to hit the fan although of course you might say that the fan is already blowing at full force in the US. The issues facing Japan at this

Japan Consumer Confidence February 2008

Japan's consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in five years in February. The Index fell to 36.1 in February, down from 37.5 in January, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo this morning. Confidence among consumers hasn't been this low since March 2003, when the unemployment rate was close to a postwar high.

Japan Q4 2007 GDP Revisions

Following today's release of revised figures for Japan GDP in Q4 2007 we can now see that Japan's economy grew better than anticpated (incuding by those on this blog) in the fourth quarter as exports held up much better than expected. Gross domestic product expanded an annualized rate of 3.5 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, which was down only slightly on last month's preliminary

Deciphering the USD/JPY - A Credit Turmoil Story?

In a time where the USD continues its roller coaster ride and where analysts and other market sages are effectively predicting the USD/JPY to break 100 anytime soon I think it might be a good idea to have a more reflective look at what is happening to the JPY (the USD/JPY in this case). Of course, exchange rates, like the lord, move in mysterious ways and most empirical studies have grappled with

Japan Economy Watchers Index February 2008

Japanese merchant sentiment improved slightly in February but was still near a six-year low as soaring oil and food prices continued to sap consumers' spending power. The Economy Watchers index, a survey of barbers, taxi drivers and others who deal with consumers, rose to 33.6 from 31.8 in January, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo.

Japan Machinery Orders January 2008

Japanese machinery orders rose at the fastest pace in seven years in January, a sign that demand from emerging markets may offer some kind of support for Japan's export driven economy during difficult times. Equipment orders jumped 19.6 percent from December, when they dropped 3.2 percent, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. Machinery orders,which give some indication of capital spending

Is Japan Resisting?

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources)There is only one thing which you can be certain of these days. Trying to keep up with the pace of record breaking and nail biting pieces of data pouring in at the moment carries with it a distinct risk of suffering a heart attack. You shouldn't worry too much about the author of this space though but I am merely pointing towards the fact that 'keeping up' these

Japan Leading Index January 2008

Japan's leading index fell to 30 percent in January, below the threshold of 50 that signals growth will slow in the next three to six months, according to the Cabinet Office yesterday. The December number was revised to 50 from 45.5.With consumer confidence at a four-year low it seems unlikely that household spending will continue to sustain the Japanese economy in the face of slowing export

Japan Capital Spending and Q4 2007 GDP Revision

This is just a brief note on the news from the Japanese Ministry of Finance this morning that capital spending excluding software declined 7.3 percent year on year in the three months ended Dec. 31. This was the fastest decline in capital spending to be registered in the last five years, and almost certainly means that the Japanese government will use the data to substantially revise down its

Japan Housing Starts January 2008

Japan's housing construction sector crisis does seem to be flattening out, and new starts fell at the slowest pace in seven months in January. Ground broken on new homes and condominiums was still down - 5.7 percent from a year earlier - but this following a much stronger rate of decline - 19.2 percent - in December, and if we look at the chart - which is based on data from the Japanese Land

Japan Inflation and Retail Sales January 2008

Japan's consumer prices as measured by the General Index (ie including food and energy costs) rose for a fourth consecutive month in January at a year on year rate of 0.7%, maintaining the fastest pace achieved in more than nine years, as companies passed the higher costs of oil, wheat and soybeans onto consumers. Core consumer prices (ie stripping some foodstuffs) climbed 0.8 percent from a

Japan Unemployment January 2008

Japan's unemployment rate was unchanged (since last November) at 3.8 percent in January. The male jobless rate rose to 3.9 percent last month from 3.8 percent in December, while the female unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. The unemployment rate fell to a low of 3.6 percent last July, and this was the lowest level since