TOKYO, June 11 (Reuters) – Japanese business sentiment soured in April-June for the first time in four quarters, a government survey showed on Thursday, a sign of growing economic pain from the Middle East conflict.
An index measuring big companies’ sentiment fell to -0.5% point in the second quarter following a reading of +4.4 points in January-March, the survey showed.
The index gauging small firms’ sentiment slumped to -17.6 points from -12.9 points, according to the survey compiled by the Ministry of Finance.
The index is measured by the difference between companies that replied business conditions as improving versus those that felt conditions worsened.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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