Since the turn of this year, the diffusion indexes (DIs) for business sentiment of manufacturing firms on a global basis have remained below 50, which is the borderline between improvement and deterioration of business conditions perceived by firms.
The U.S.-China trade friction has exerted a negative impact on the global trade activity as there had been incremental rises in additional tariffs until a partial agreement was reached in mid-October. In addition, slowdowns have continued to be observed in emerging economies, partly because it has been taking time for the effects of China's economic policy to materialize.