<div id="readability-page-1">The main consumer confidence index takes a dive from 39.7 in February to 33.3 in March. And that is the weakest reading since the middle of last year. The US-Iran conflict is threatening to derail the consumer recovery in Japan, not least with higher petrol prices and spillovers to higher inflation.And for the BOJ, it isn't the good kind of inflation. All of this is part of cost-push inflation, which is what the central bank specifically wants to avoid. For policymakers, it is vital that price pressures are driven up by stronger wages instead.Circling back to the report, you can see how serious the impact of the war in the Middle East is weighing on sentiment:Looking at the breakdown of the individual components:<ul><li>Overall livelihood: 29.7 (previously 39.5)</li><li>Income growth: 39.8 (previously 42.3)</li><li>Employment: 37.6 (previously 46.3)</li><li>Willingness to buy durable goods: 26.0 (previously 33.7)</li></ul>It's a fall across the board as the mood darkens for Japanese consumers.Meanwhile, price expectations also saw a significant increase after having fallen in recent months. The percentage of households expecting prices to &#34;go up&#34; shot back up to 93.1% in March. That is up from 85.6% in February before this.</div>

Japan's consumer confidence index fell sharply from 39.7 in February to 33.3 in March, marking the lowest level since mid-2022. The US-Iran conflict is contributing to this decline, leading to higher petrol prices and inflation concerns. Key components of consumer sentiment also dropped, including overall livelihood (29.7), income growth (39.8), employment (37.6), and willingness to buy durable goods (26.0). Additionally, the percentage of households expecting price increases rose to 93.1% in March, up from 85.6% in February, indicating growing inflationary pressures.

- Japan's consumer confidence index dropped from 39.7 in February to 33.3 in March, marking its lowest level since mid-last year.  
- This decline is attributed to rising gasoline prices and inflation spillover effects related to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which threaten consumer recovery.  
- Additionally, despite a recent decrease in price expectations, the proportion of households anticipating price increases rose to 93.1% in March from 85.6% in February.

Investinglive

SPDR O&G Equip

United States Oil Fund LP

VG Energy

Us Brent Oil

BlackRock, Inc.

iShares US Oil & Gas Expl & Prod

VanEck Oil Refiners ETF

SPDR Energy Select

AP Holdings Co., Ltd.

Monogatari Corporation

BP p.l.c.

Pro Ultr Bloomberg Crude Oil

Occidental Petroleum

HSPC

VanEck Oil Services ETF

iShares US Oil Equip & Svcs

SPDR O&G Ex & Prd

ISHRS S&P Glb Engy

Asset Management One Co., Ltd.

Simplex Financial Holdings Co., Ltd.

Japan consumer sentiment plunges in March as US-Iran conflict weighs