let s ta ke let s take a look at how the stock market is doing. flat to high. trading at a 33 year home. the last quarter it outperformed any major global indices partly because investors are hopeful about japan s economy. nobuko kobayashi, from professional services firm, ey, explains. yes, it beat expectation by one point which is quite phenomenal. if you peel down, break down the difference, the positive surprise comes especially from the investment in private sector. the personal consumption, which was considered to be jumping up, was in line with expectation, but particularly on the business side, it was a positive surprise. i want to ask you about consumer spending because we have been talking about how japan has never really had inflation for many decades and now, having one, albeit much lower compared to other parts of the world, and yet wages have not been growing as much as expected, so why is consumer sentiment quite strong? consumer sentiment, i think, temporarily
japan releases better than expected economi growth japan releases better than expected economic growth figures for the first quarter of 2023. and we take a bite out of lab grown meat. but over two years, we check out what is the appetite for soft alternative protein. hi there, welcome to asia business report, with me, mariko oi. i want to start with japan this morning bacause it hasjust released its latest growth figures for the first tthree months of this year and the economy grew by 2.7% which is much, much higher than the initial estimate of 1.5% and much stronger than what analysts had also been expecting as well. growth was driven by robust business spending and a rebound in tourism, especially after covid restrictions were dropped earlier this year.