TOKYO -- Business sentiment among Japan's large manufacturers has plateaued after five straight quarters of improvement, according to the Bank of Japan's latest quarterly Tankan survey released on Monday.
The pause in the improving trend indicates that the global economy's recovery from the COVID crisis last year is unlikely to be smooth, with outbreaks of new COVID variants and continued constraints on production. The survey, conducted from Nov. 10 to Dec. 10, is not believed to fully reflect the impact of the Omicron variant, which was first reported in late November.
