Japan Biz Sentiment Improves for 1st Time in 4 Qtrs

Tokyo, Sept. 24 (Jiji Press)--Large Japanese companies' business
sentiment improved for the first time in four quarters in July-September as an increasing number of firms passed higher materials costs on to their product prices, a government survey showed Wednesday.

The business sentiment index for large firms with capital of one
billion yen or more came to minus 10.2 in the second quarter of fiscal 2008, against minus 15.2 in April-June, according to the survey conducted jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Office.

The index represents the percentage of firms feeling improvements
in their business conditions from the previous quarter minus that of firms
sensing the opposite.
Steelmakers, paper producers and some other industries made
progress in having their product prices reflect rises in materials costs.
The recent falls in crude oil prices also contributed to the improvement in
business sentiment.
The index gauging sentiment among large manufacturers improved to
minus 10.0 from minus 15.1, and the index for large nonmanufacturers came to
minus 10.2 against minus 15.3, the report said.
Meanwhile, the business sentiment index for midsize firms
capitalized at 100 million yen or more and less than one billion yen fell
from minus 18.1 to minus 18.6, the worst level ever.
The index stood at minus 34.3 for small companies with capital of
less than 100 million yen although the figure was better than minus 36.5 in
April-June.
The survey also showed that large companies' business sentiment
outlook index came to minus 5.3 for October-December and minus 0.4 for
January-March 2009.
The survey was conducted on Aug. 25, when the U.S. financial woes
had yet to become serious. The survey covered a total of 14,560 companies,
of which 79.4 pct gave valid responses.