Japan: Consumer confidence falls in April
Consumer sentiment came in at 38.3 in April, down from March’s 39.5, a three-month low and undershooting market expectations. With the downtick, the index moved further away from the 50-threshold, indicating deeper pessimism among consumers. Household sentiment worsened with respect to all subcomponents tracked by the consumer survey, including overall livelihood, income growth, employment and willingness to buy durable goods.
Despite the weak reading, our panelists expect private spending to grow at the fastest pace since Q1 2023 in Q2 2024, boosted by expectations of strong wage growth and lower inflation.