By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese manufacturers turned slightly less confident about business conditions in August and the service sector’s mood eased, the monthly Reuters Tankan survey found on Wednesday, as lacklustre demand from China weighed on corporate sentiment.
The poll comes after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) last month raised interest rates to levels unseen in 15 years and released a detailed plan to slow its massive bond buying.
The sentiment index for manufacturers slipped to plus 10 in August, down one point from July, according to the Reuters Tankan survey, which closely tracks the BOJ’s quarterly business survey.
Manufacturers expect the index to decline further to plus five over the next three months, the survey showed.
“Auto sales are sluggish, especially in China,” a manager at an auto and transport machinery firm wrote in the survey.
Managers from a wide range of industries such as chemicals, steel and electronics…
