The confidence index for large manufacturers logged its biggest drop on record in March as the global financial crisis body-slammed exporters, the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey showed Wednesday.

Compared with the previous survey in December, business sentiment at large manufacturers plunged 34 points to minus 58 — the lowest since the BOJ began compiling the data in May 1974.

That exceeds the tankan's 26-point slide during the oil crisis that hit in August 1974.