TOKYO -- Business sentiment among Japan's large manufacturers improved for a third straight quarter in March despite the coronavirus pandemic, global semiconductor shortages and lingering geopolitical tensions, the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan survey showed on Thursday.
The headline diffusion index of sentiment among large manufacturers came to plus 5 in March, compared with minus 10 in December, marking a third straight quarter of improvement. The latest reading matched that for September 2019, when the reading also stood at 5.
