Japan manufacturers' mood down for second straight month: poll

Tokyo

JAPANESE manufacturers' confidence worsened for the second straight month and is expected to fade going forward, a Reuters poll showed, adding to lingering fears of a recession and keeping policymakers under pressure to deploy fresh stimulus.

Service-sector sentiment bounced from the prior month's fall but is seen worsening again over the next three months, a sign of the fragility in private consumption which accounts for roughly 60 per cent of the economy.

The Reuters Tankan - which closely tracks the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) tankan survey - came as a recent run of weak data including surprise drops in factory output and machinery orders cast doubt on…