Wage Growth: Sentiment Index and Reuters Tankan

wage growth: The Reuters Tankan follows data last week that showed the economy expanded for a fifth straight quarter at the start of this year led by exports and private consumption, although sluggish wage growth weighed on households, according to The Japan Times. In the poll of 527 large and midsized firms, conducted between May 9-19 in which 243 responded, the sentiment index for manufacturers fell two points to 24 in May, dragged down by the food processing, precision machinery and chemicals industries. The monthly poll which tracks the Bank of Japan's key quarterly tankan showed confidence at service-sector firms hit a four-month high, a tentative sign of a pickup in domestic demand. This followed a score of 26 in April, which was the highest reading since August 2007, a year before the collapse of a U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial crisis. The dollar has risen since bottoming in mid-April and such a recovery in market conditions should underpin business sentiment, Yuichiro Nagai, economist at Barclays Securities Japan, noted in a report. Sentiment remained firm in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.