MNI BRIEF: Japan July Sentiment & Outlook Indexes Rise

Japan's sentiment index posted its first rise in two months, gaining 0.8 points to 54.4 in July from 53.6 in June, while the outlook index for two to three months ahead posted its first rise in three months, up 1.3 points to 54.1 from June's 52.8, according to the Cabinet Office's Economy Watchers report released Tuesday.

However, the government left its assessment unchanged, the report noted. The improvement of all the three components linked to households, firms and labour market drove the rise in sentiment, which supports the Bank of Japan’s view that private consumption will continue to increase.

“The economy is recovering moderately. Looking ahead, a moderate economic recovery is likely to continue,” the government said in a statement.

An official at the Cabinet Office told reporters that scorching weather had both positive and negative impact on sentiment.

The survey indicates whether respondents with jobs most sensitive to economic conditions, including taxi and truck drivers, department-store sales staff and restaurant and shop owners, think economic conditions have improved or worsened over the last three months.

The Cabinet Office conducted the survey between July 25-31 and targeted roughly 2,000 people, including store managers and taxi drivers.