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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (61616)	3/7/2002 12:27:35 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Japanese capital spending falls 14.5% By Bayan Rahman in Tokyo Published: March 6 2002 07:40 \| Last Updated: March 6 2002 08:58 news.ft.com Japan is set to post its first nine-month stretch of recession in eight years after a government survey showed a sharp fall in capital spending by Japanese companies. Capital spending fell between October and December for the first time in two years as companies, led by construction businesses and electrical and machinery makers, slashed spending on plant and equipment by 14.5 per cent year on year, according to a finance ministry survey. This has raised expectations of a bigger contraction in gross domestic product between October and December than previously forecast. Economists' forecasts suggest the economy shrank by as much as 1 per cent compared with the previous quarter. A contraction in the quarter would mark the first time since 1993 that the economy has shrunk for three consecutive quarters. Companies, already dogged by heavy debts and overcapacity, were hit by a sharp fall in global demand while domestic demand remained stagnant, driving pre-tax profits down 31.4 per cent and sales down 3.8 per cent. However, there was one glimmer of light to lessen the gloom over Japan's economy, as a separate survey showed a slight improvement in corporate confidence over the past three months. The finance ministry's business sentiment index for large companies rose to minus 22.1 this month from minus 28.3 in December, showing that companies are slightly less pessimistic about their prospects.