Japan Q4 GDP revised up but trade clouds outlook

Tokyo

THE Japanese economy grew faster than initially estimated in the fourth quarter as capital investment staged a quick recovery from a series of natural disasters in the previous quarter.

However, despite the upward revision to growth, economists are likely to temper their optimism on the outlook given disappointing data on exports and factory output and with the economy expected to weaken due to the Sino-US trade war.

Japan's gross domestic product rose an annualised 1.9 per cent in October-December, more than the initial estimate of a 1.4 per cent expansion and the media…