Overview

• Ministry of Finance data show plant and equipment investment rose 7.6% from a year earlier in April–June, with a 1.6% seasonally adjusted increase from the prior quarter after a 6.4% gain.
• Corporate sales edged up 0.8% year on year in the quarter and recurring profits rose 0.2%, pointing to steady but modest income support for spending plans.
• Stronger investment momentum could strengthen the case for additional Bank of Japan rate hikes later this year.
• Exports in July recorded the sharpest monthly fall in about four years as automakers cut prices to absorb U.S. tariff costs.
• Industrial output fell more than expected in July, including a 6.7% drop in auto production, and economists warn tariff pressures may bite harder from the third quarter even as a deal to cut U.S. auto tariffs to 15% awaits an executive order from President Donald Trump.