Japan - Privat investering

Japanese companies raised spending on plant and equipment by 1.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter 2019, slowing sharply from a 6.1 percent gain in the previous period. This was the weakest yearly growth in corporate capital spending since a 1.5 percent rise in Q2 2017, amid ongoing Sino-US trade row and slowing global growth. Investment of manufacturing firms fell for the first time in two years (-1.7% vs 6.9% in Q1), mainly weighed down by petroleum and coal products (-48.7% vs 12.1%); fabricated metal products (-1.2% vs 23.2%); general-purpose machinery (-25.3% vs 45.8%); electrical machinery, equipment (-9.2% vs 1%); and transport equipment (-2.6% vs 3.2%). Meanwhile, investment of non-manufacturing companies grew further (7% vs 5%), mostly driven by construction (7.7% vs 15.3%); wholesale & retail trade (7.8% vs -5.8%); real estate (45.5% vs 2.9%); goods rental & leasing (29.4% vs 47.7%); and information & communications (12.5% vs 1.3%).

Japanese companies raised spending on plant and equipment by 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, more than a 5.7 percent increase in the previous period but missing market expectations of 11.6 percent growth. Investment of manufacturing companies rose sharply (8.5 percent vs 10.9 percent in Q4), mainly led by chemicals (42.1 percent vs 21.6 percent), production machinery (43.1 percent vs 24.1 percent), fabricated metal products (23.2 percent vs 16.7 percent), and iron & steel (12.6 percent vs 8.4 percent). By contrast, investment of transport equipment companies plunged (-6.5 percent vs 60.3 percent). Growth in investment of non-manufacturing companies accelerated (5 percent vs 2.7 percent), driven by spending on goods rental & leasing (47.7 percent vs 27.8 percent), transport & postal activities (12.9 percent vs 5.8 percent), production & distribution of electricity (10 percent vs 8.2 percent), and construction (15.3 percent vs -1.2 percent).

Japanese companies raised spending on plant and equipment by 5.7 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018 following a 4.5 percent increase in the previous period and beating market expectations of 4.5 percent. It was the ninth straight quarter in expansion zone, as investment of manufacturing companies surged 10.9 percent (vs 5.1 percent in Q3), led by information & communication electronics equipment (60.3 percent), chemicals (21.6 percent) and production machinery (24.1 percent), more than offsetting a 10.8 percent decline in food manufacturing companies. Meantime, investment of non-manufacturing companies climbed at a slower 2.7 percent pace (vs 4.2 percent in Q3), as wholesale and retail trade plunged 12.6 percent (vs -5.7 percent) and services dropped 3.7 percent (vs -8.9 percent).