Asian business sentiment crumbles on China shock

Tokyo

SENTIMENT at Asia's biggest companies tumbled in the third quarter at a record pace due to growing worries about the economic slowdown in China and the risks it poses to the global outlook, a Thomson Reuters/IN- SEAD survey has shown.

The Thomson Reuters/IN- SEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index, representing the six- month outlook at 79 firms, was 60 in the September quarter from 71 in June and 66 a year prior. A reading over 50 indicates a positive view.

The 11-point quarterly decline was the steepest since the survey began in 2009, dragging the index to its lowest in almost four years, and showing the extent of damage that a slump in Chinese shares during the quarte…