Japan business confidence up after almost 2 years

TOKYO (AP) ? The Bank of Japan says business sentiment among major manufacturers has turned positive for the first time in nearly two years.

The central bank's closely-watched quarterly "tankan" survey for June showed Monday that the index for major manufacturers rose to positive 4 from negative 8 in March. It was the first survey to be higher than zero since September 2011.

A positive reading means more companies are optimistic than pessimistic.

The index for major non-manufacturers rose to 12 from 6 in the last survey.

The improvement comes amid a weakening yen, which boosts overseas income for Japan's key exporters, and a series of aggressive economic policies ? moentary easing and boosting public workers projects ? by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since he took office in December.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-30-Japan-Economy/id-c231f7e0daf34d26a0fc9cd837f0d590

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