Japanese Firms See Slightly Better Prospects

Big Japanese manufacturers grew slightly cheerier about their business prospects in November, according to a closely watched economics survey. The Bank of Japan’s quarterly survey of executives of 700 major manufacturers, or tankan, showed that the diffusion index for big manufacturers--an important gauge of corporate sentiment--rose to -3 in November from -7 in August, when the previous survey was conducted. The tankan is a key clue to Japan’s monetary policy. The rise in the manufacturers’ diffusion index was expected by economists, though it was still below the level of zero predicted by the firms themselves in August. The index represents the percentage of firms expecting business to improve minus those who expect it to worsen.