Japan Q1 Business Mood Inches Higher in World Economy News 02/04/2026 The Bank of Japan’s sentiment index for large manufacturers edged up to 17 in Q1 2026, beating market estimates of 16 and marking the highest level since Q4 2021. The uptick suggested Middle East conflict risks have yet to dent business morale. Confidence strengthened across firms producing pulp (44 vs 40 in Q4), electrical machinery (22 vs 21), processed metals (16 vs 10), general-purpose machinery (34 vs 27), production machinery (26 vs 16), motor vehicles (13 vs 9), and business-oriented machinery (15 vs 9). Meanwhile, sentiment held steady in iron & steel (-15), food & drinks (9), and shipbuilding (35). On the other hand, weaker readings came from textiles (-5 vs -4), lumber & wood (0 vs 7), petroleum (18 vs 36), and chemicals (14 vs 19). Simultaneously, large firms plan to lift capital expenditure by just 3.3% in Q1, sharply down from 12.6% previously and the softest rise since Q1 2023, reflecting high borrowing costs and intensifying geopolitical uncertainty. Source: Trading Economics 2026-04-02 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share