A key gauge of Japan's current economic conditions rose a revised 0.2 points from a preliminary 0. 3 points in April following a record plunge a month earlier, the Cabinet Office said in a report on Monday.
The composite index of coincident indicators such as industrial output, retail sales and overtime working hours, which reflects current business conditions in Japan, rose to 103.6 from 103.5 booked a month earlier, against the 2005 base of 100, the government report showed.
April's revised 0.2 point rise follows a record 3.2 point plunge logged a month earlier which revealed the full extent of the fallout the March 11 earthquake and tsunami had on business conditions in Japan.
According to the finalized government data, the leading composite index which measures the state of the economy three months ahead dropped 3.4 points from a month earlier, to 96.2 from 99.6 in March, marking the second straight month-on-month fall.
Meanwhile, the lagging index, which reflects economic conditions three months in the past, gained a revised 1.9 points month-on-month to 90.8 from 90.7, logging its first rise in two months.
As with the office's preliminary assessment for April, the government maintained that the composite index "indicates that the economy is improving," but again noted that the March 11 twin disasters had caused the three-month backward moving average to turn negative./.