The final will be published in a week - this the preliminary reading
Comments from the report (bolding mine):
- further loss of momentum across the manufacturing sector
- headline PMI dropping to a three-month low
- Softer demand in both domestic and international markets
- sharpest fall in total new orders for three years
- soft patch for automotive demand … subdued client confidence in the wake of US-China trade frictions were often cited by survey respondents
- Disappointing sales volumes also led to the largest accumulation of finished goods inventories for over six and-a-half years
- backlogs of work were depleted to the greatest extent since January 2013, which will likely act as an additional drag on production volumes in the months ahead
Not a good report at all. People looking for signs of the BOJ backtracking on easy policy continue to be disappointed.