Japan service sector firms' mood perks up, Omicron clouds outlook: Survey

Confidence among Japan's large service-sector firms improved in the three months to December, a closely watched central bank survey showed, suggesting the economy was gradually emerging from the hit of the coronavirus pandemic.

But big manufacturers' confidence was flat from three months ago and companies saw business conditions worsening ahead, underscoring the fragile nature of Japan's economic recovery.

The outcome offered a mixed picture for policymakers seeking to reflate Japan's fragile economy by maintaining ultra-loose monetary policy and a massive pandemic-relief spending package.

The headline index gauging big manufacturers' sentiment stood at plus 18 in the final quarter of 2021, unchanged from the