Capital spending by Japanese firms climbed 8.5 percent in the October-December period from a year earlier, the government said Tuesday, but a decline in corporate profits and an uncertain global economy may dampen business investment in the future.
Business investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building plants and installing new equipment totaled ¥10.53 trillion, the Finance Ministry said. The pace of the rise slowed from an 11.2 percent increase in the previous quarter.
The data will affect revisions to Japan's economic growth figures for the same period, with the Cabinet Office scheduled to release revised gross domestic product data on March 8.