TOKYO, April 1 (UPI) -- Major Japanese manufacturers expect the next quarter to be flat as conditions worsen, the Wall Street Journal says.
Quoting the influential Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey of corporate sentiment, the Journal reported Friday the business-conditions diffusion index for large manufacturers fell to 14 from 22 in the December survey.
The central bank's sentiment indexes measure the percentage of companies saying business conditions are better minus the percentage saying they are worse.
The index fell below economists' forecasts and was the latest in a series of mixed indicators about the world's second-largest national economy, the Journal said.
The economy showed virtually zero expansion in the last three quarters of 2004, but was expected to have started expanding again in January-March.
The survey also said large manufacturers expect to increase capital spending 3.4 percent in fiscal 2005 that began Friday. That is a huge decline from the 23 percent jump in fiscal 2004.
