Japan: Consumer confidence moderates in December
Consumer sentiment fell from November’s multi-year high of 44.9 to 44.7 in December. The decline contrasted the 45.0 reading that market analysts had expected. The consumer confidence index measures consumers’ expectations for the next six months on a scale of 0–100, where 100 indicates that all respondents see their living standards improving.
December’s decrease reflected a broad-based deterioration as all but one of the components of the index fell compared to November. The overall livelihood category and job prospects logged the largest declines followed by consumers’ willingness to buy durable goods. Income growth was unchanged in the same month.