Capital expenditures climbed 4.5% from a year earlier and fell 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, finance ministry data showed.
If that spreads to bigger cities, that will cool demand for China-bound shipments and capex," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
If Europe and America, which have held firm so far, cave to inflation pressure, that would further sap Japanese corporate appetite for investment."
The capex data will be used to calculate revised gross domestic product figures due on Sept. 8.
Corporate recurring profits surged 11.6% during the second quarter from the same period a year ago to hit a record 31.6 trillion yen, while corporate revenues rose 5.8%.
Persons:
Takeshi Minami, Minami, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Tom Hogue, Edwina Gibbs
Organizations:
Norinchukin Research, Thomson
Locations:
TOKYO, China, Japan, U.S, Europe, America