JAPAN

Corporate Confidence Lowest Since ‘75: Japanese corporate confidence plumbed new depths in November, falling to its lowest level since 1975, a survey by Japan’s central bank showed Friday. The quarterly report, the tankan, contained gloomy numbers reflecting a nearly 2-year economic slump, but economists were divided over what the statistics revealed. The “diffusion index” for major manufacturers, a key gauge of business sentiment, dropped to a minus 44 in November from minus 37 in August. November sentiment was worse than in 1987, when Japanese manufacturers suffered from the yen’s rise but better than in August, 1975, when the economy reeled from high oil prices.