MNI BRIEF: Japan March Sentiment Drops; Trade Concern

Japan's sentiment index for the current economic climate stood at a seasonally adjusted 45.1 in February, down from 45.6 in March, while the outlook index for two-three months ahead fell 1.4 points to 45.2 in March from 46.6 in February, the Economy Watchers report released by the Cabinet Office showed Tuesday.

Both indexes fell for the fourth consecutive month. The indexes linked to households and the labour market fell, but the index linked to businesses rose.

The government maintained its assessment, saying that the economy is recovering moderately as a trend but "weakness is observed recently.” 

Looking ahead, the government repeated that a moderate economic recovery is likely to continue but there is concern over the impact of high prices. It also added “concern over trade policies” to the assessment.