Japan's private sector activity down in November
Private sector activity in Japan declined in November, according to a preliminary report by S&P Global on Thursday. The Composite Output Index fell from 51.8 in October to 48.9, marking the first output decrease in three months. Meanwhile, the Services Business Activity Index dropped from 53.2 to 50, while the Manufacturing Output Index went from 48.7 in October to 46.3 in November.
"Central to the latest downturn was a poor performance at Japanese manufacturing firms. Cooling demand conditions and acute inflationary pressures reportedly continued to hamper output and new orders, which both saw solid reductions that were the strongest in 26 and 27 months, respectively. Manufacturing firms also seem to be increasingly wary about their future as indicated by a drop in business sentiment which put the index at its lowest level since May," said S&P Global Market Intelligence economist Laura Denman.