Business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers worsened in December compared with three months earlier for a fourth straight quarterly fall, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed Friday.

The key index measuring confidence among companies such as automobile and electronics makes dropped to zero from 5, weaker than the average market of 3 forecast in a Kyodo News poll.

The result was the worst since BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda launched the nation's ultraeasy monetary policy in April 2013.

The index for large nonmanufacturers, including the service sector, stood at 20, down from 21 in the September survey.

The reading was better than the market consensus of 16, but it marked the second straight quarter of decline.

The indexes represent the percentage of companies reporting favorable conditions minus the percentage reporting unfavorable ones.

==Kyodo

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