Japan Big Firms' Biz Sentiment Worsens in April-June

Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)--Business sentiment among major Japanese companies deteriorated in April-June due chiefly to the adverse effects of the April 1 consumption tax increse, a government survey showed Wednesday. The business sentiment index for companies with capital of one billion yen or more in all industries stood at minus 14.6, compared with plus 12.7 for the previous quarter, according to the joint survey by the Finance Ministry and the Cabinet Office. The index, which represents the percentage of companies seeing their business conditions improve from the previous quarter minus that of firms feeling the opposite, slipped into negative territory for the first time in six quarters. The business outlook index for the major companies came to plus 13.4 for July-September and plus 10.3 for October-December, according to the survey. END