Reuters Tankan poll: Manufacturing index records first fall for 9 months

Reuters Tankan poll of 527 Japanese large and mid-sized firms for the month of May revealed the following details:

May manufacturers' sentiment index slipped to +24 vs +26 in April

Manufacturing - first fall for 9 months (having said that, April was the highest in 10 years)

Service-sector firms hit a four-month high, up two points to 30 in May and to its highest reading since the beginning of this year, led by retailers

Sentiment index was seen unchanged at 24 for manufacturers in August

The index was expected to fall to 22 for non-manufacturers

"We feel the economy is picking up as suggested by recovery in resources prices, but capital spending at our clients is lagging behind," a manager at a machinery manufacturer wrote in the survey

"Local areas in Japan show no sign of economic uptrend. Movement of freight is slow at local ports due to sluggish consumption," a manager of a transport firm wrote in the survey