Confidence among Japanese manufacturers receded in May for the first time in nine months after hitting a decade-high level April, a Reuters survey has found, showing guarded optimism in a nascent export-led economic recovery.
The monthly poll — which tracks the Bank of Japan's key quarterly tankan — showed confidence at service-sector firms hit a four-month high, a tentative sign of a pickup in domestic demand.
The Reuters Tankan follows data last week that showed the economy expanded for a fifth straight quarter at the start of this year led by exports and private consumption, although sluggish wage growth weighed on households.