Survey: Japanese business confidence at record low

By Kyung Lah
CNN

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) - Sentiment among Japan's largest manufacturers is at a record low, according to a key business survey released Wednesday morning.

The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed sentiment among large manufacturers plunged to minus 58 in March from minus 24 in December. The previous record low for the survey was minus 57, reached during the oil shock era of the mid-1970s.

Business sentiment across all large, medium and small enterprises, from manufacturers to non-manufacturers, was negative.

The Tankan survey is a forward-looking and extensive indicator of the state of Japan's economy. It gauges how global exporters in Japan - like Toyota and Honda - feel about the business conditions in which they operate. The survey is one of the few forward-looking indicators that give investors a window into the immediate future of the world's second largest economy, and it helps the Bank of Japan set monetary policy.