Confidence on slide in Japan
Japan's Tankan index of confidence among its largest manufacturers has turned sharply downwards.
The survey of the big motor vehicle and electronics companies slid to minus three in September from plus five in the June quarter.
It is the fourth quarter of drops in confidence among the country's exporters, the Bank of Japan said today.
The negative reading means that pessimists outnumbered optimists for the first time since 2003.
Fallout from the global financial crisis is slowing growth in China and other emerging markets that have until now cushioned big exporters such as carmaker Toyota from weaker US demand.
The Bank of Japan said that about 80% of executives responded to the survey before Lehman Brothers had hit the wall or Washington had bailed out the troubled insurance giant American International Group.
