A poll of 100 major Japanese companies revealed Saturday that most expect the economy to expand moderately but are worried about a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Of the 100 polled between late August and early September, 81 replied that Japan's economy is "expanding moderately" while one said the economy is merely "expanding."

The 100 companies, however, were divided about the future of the economy. Of them, 41 expect the expansion to continue for more than a year, but 48 expect that phase to end within a year.

As risk factors, 94 firms cited a possible economic slowdown in the United States as a worry while 52 pointed to jumps in oil and materials prices as cause for concern. Respondents were allowed to give multiple answers.

As positive factors for the Japanese economy, 65 companies cited corporate capital outlays and 61 mentioned growing exports to Asian countries.

The surveyed companies included Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Seven & I Holdings Co., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Nomura Holdings Inc., Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Japan Airlines Corp.