Japan business confidence edges up

Tokyo - Japanese business sentiment slightly improved for the first time in two quarters despite sluggish consumer spending after a sales tax hike in April, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed on Wednesday.

The closely watched indicator rose by 1 point to plus 13 after the government raised the national sales tax on April 1 from 5% to 8%.

A positive number indicates optimists outnumber pessimists.

However, the index for large non-manufacturers dropped to plus 13 from plus 19, the survey showed.

Large corporations in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors plan to increase capital investment by 8.6% for the current financial year through March 2015, compared with 7.4% in the previous survey, according to the survey.