After reaching a three-year high in the second quarter of the year, confidence among business leaders in Asia softened slightly over the third quarter. The YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index for Asia fell 1.8 points to 65.5 in the most recent survey of CEOs. The regional reading, however, is firmly in optimistic territory and more than 2 points higher than the global composite.

 

"While optimism in China and India was little changed versus the July survey, business sentiment suffered somewhat in other parts of Asia, for example in Japan as the government reiterated plans to further increase the consumption tax next year, as well as in Hong Kong amid civil protests," said Terry O'Connor, regional chief executive officer of Courts Asia and a member of YPO's Southeast Asia regional board. "But the important thing is that on the whole, confidence levels across the region are robust, indicating that CEOs expect economic expansion to continue."

 

The modest but broad-scale decrease in confidence erased two consecutive quarterly gains by the Asean economies, whose composite index dropped 4.6 points to 62.5. In Japan, confidence slipped 2.8 points to 57.1, setting it back to its January level but still comfortably higher than its five-year average. In China, confidence edged lower for the third consecutive quarter, with the index losing 0.5 point to register at a still-optimistic 62.9. Sentiment in India held steady after a post-election bump last quarter, inching down 0.6 point to a lofty 71.1.

 

The quarterly electronic survey, conducted in the first two weeks of October, gathered answers from 2,431 chief executive officers around the world, including 276 in Asia. Globally, the YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index edged down 0.8 point on moderate declines in most regions, remaining in optimistic territory at 63.2.