Japan capital spending rise pauses in Jan.-March, Iran war clouds outlook

TOKYO - Capital spending by Japanese companies in the January-March quarter was almost flat from a year earlier, in a sign growth led by artificial intelligence-linked investment has slowed, government data showed Monday, as the Middle East conflict further clouds the outlook.

Investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building plants and purchasing equipment edged up 0.047 percent from a year earlier to 18.81 trillion yen ($118 billion), a record-high, for the fifth straight quarterly gain, the Finance Ministry said.