JAPAN

摘要

The first preliminary national accounts estimates for Q2 were released on our survey date, revealing that the economy expanded by more than expected at 3.6% y-o-y (our panel predicted 3.3% in June). The acceleration in growth can largely be attributed to a 5.1 % revival in industrial production in Q2, from a more subdued 2.7% in Q1. Moreover, base-year effects helped, after Q1 and Q2 2011 were adversely affected by the tsunami/ Fukushima disaster. Still, adding further optimism to an already strong data set was business investment which jumped by 5.7% (y-o-y) in Q2.