Japan manufacturers' mood slips to 2-year low - Reuters Tankan

Japan's gross domestic product shrank at an annualised rate of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter - the worst downturn since the second quarter of 2014 - from 2.8 percent growth in the second quarter, revised data from the Cabinet Office showed. The downturn, in part driven by a series of natural disasters that forced factories to cut production, was deeper than an initial estimate of a 1.2 percent contraction and against economists' median forecast for a 1.9 percent decline. (A worker cycles near a factory at the Keihin industrial zone in Kawasaki, Japan. - Reuters filepic)

TOKYO: Confidence among Japanese manufacturers dropped for a third straight month in January to a two-year low, a Reuters monthly poll showed, as worries over the health of the global economy and trade tensions take a toll on the corporate sector.

The monthly poll, which tracks the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) closely watched tankan quarterly survey, found service-sector sentiment held steady, suggesting that domestic demand may help offset rising headwinds from abroad.