MNI BRIEF: Japan's Jan Sentiment Index Dives And Outlook Drops

Japan's sentiment index fell sharply in January and the outlook for two to three months ahead posted the third straight drop, prompting the government to cite the impact of the spread of Omicron and lower its assessment, the Economy Watchers index released by the Cabinet Office Tuesday showed.

The index fell a seasonally adjusted 19.6 points, the most since March 2011 when the Tohoku earthquake struck Japan, to 37.9 from 57.5 in December. "Looking ahead, there is hope for the recovery but there are concern over higher costs (caused by the rise in raw material prices and the yen’s fall) and over developments of omicron variants at home and overseas.”