Japan Inc grows more optimistic as Kishida takes PM reins

Fumio Kishida is widely expected to compile a sizable fiscal package to shore up the economy and woo voters before national elections expected in November.

TOKYO: Confidence among big Japanese businesses unexpectedly improved for a fifth straight quarter, defying a record wave of the coronavirus and suggesting a potentially faster recovery under the nation’s new prime minister.

Sentiment among large manufacturers rose to 18 in the three months through September from 14 in the prior period, according to the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey released Friday. The reading for service businesses edged up one point to 2.