Tokyo: The Bank of Japan announced on Tuesday an improvement in business confidence among major Japanese companies in June compared to three months ago, marking the first improvement in two quarters.

According to Qatar News Agency, the bank's quarterly survey of 9,000 companies showed a slight rise in the business confidence index (Tankan) among domestic companies. This increase was notably seen in the electronics manufacturing sector and the iron and steel and paper industries. However, the automobile sector experienced a negative impact due to US tariffs.

The survey also highlighted that confidence among major retailers, banks, real estate companies, and other non-manufacturing companies declined by one point to reach +34. This marks the first decrease in two quarters and is attributed to concerns over rising sales prices and consumption expectations.

Looking ahead, major manufacturing companies expect their business confidence index to decline by one point to reach +12 in the next survey scheduled for September. Meanwhile, major non-manufacturing companies anticipate a decrease of seven points, bringing the index down to +27.