Business sentiment among large Japanese companies in the January-March period fell to the lowest level in five years and nine months, affected by the new coronavirus outbreak and slowing exports to China, a government survey showed Thursday.
Japanese shares tumbled the same day, with major indexes at three-year lows after the United States rattled markets by imposing sweeping restrictions on travel from Europe and world health officials declared the coronavirus a pandemic.
The confidence index covering firms capitalized at ¥1 billion ($9.6 million) or more stood at minus 10.1 in the first three months of 2020, down from minus 6.2 in the previous quarter for the second consecutive quarterly decline, according to the joint survey by the Finance Ministry and Cabinet Office.