South Korea Business Confidence Falls In February

(RTTNews) - Business sentiment in South Korea decreased slightly in February, while the outlook brightened further, the latest survey from the Bank of Korea showed on Wednesday.

The Business Survey Index on business conditions in the manufacturing sector dropped to 72 in February from 73 in January. The expected score was 75.

Manufacturers reported a decline in production levels and new orders.

The survey showed that the outlook strengthened for the second straight month, with the index rising to 77 from 72.

In the non-manufacturing sector, the business morale index improved by 0.5 points to 92.2, and the outlook for the same month strengthened notably to 96.8 from 88.4.

The Economic Sentiment Index, which combines the BSI and the Consumer Survey Index, for February was 98.8, up from 94.0 in the prior month.

The survey was conducted among 3,524 companies between February 5 and 12.