Stock Markets Tumble on Dire U.S. Warning: Live Updates

Japan’s factory activity in March slowed to its lowest rate in a decade and its manufacturers are increasingly pessimistic about the state of the country’s economy, data showed on Wednesday, in the latest indications of the pressure that the coronavirus is putting on Japanese businesses.

The country’s economy was already on the brink of a technical recession — two consecutive quarters of contraction — after a 7.1 percent drop in economic output in the final three months of last year.

But a gauge of factory output, known as the purchasing manager’s index, fell to 44.8 in a monthly survey by Jibun Bank and IHS Markit. A reading of less than 50 indicates economic contraction.

The reading was the lowest level since 2009, when the country was grappling with the effects of the global financial crisis.

Japanese manufacturers’ concerns about the course of the economy over the coming three months have also sharpened significantly, turning negative for the first time since 2011, in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, according to a central bank survey of business conditions, known as the Tankan, that was released on Wednesday.

So far, Japan has managed to limit the spread of the coronavirus without resorting to the kinds of strict measures that have caused widespread economic shutdowns in the United States, China and Europe.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus.html