Japan Firms Lift Investment Plans Even as Mood Weakens: Economy

Japanese companies increased their investment plans more than forecast even as a sales-tax hike dented sentiment, potentially aiding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to stoke an economic recovery.

Large companies across all industries plan to lift capital spending 7.4 percent this fiscal year through March, more than a 0.1 percent increase they signaled three months earlier, a Bank of Japan report showed today. That was above a median 6 percent gain forecast in a survey of 22 economists by Bloomberg News. A gauge of sentiment among large manufacturers fell to 12 from 17 in March.