Japanese companies cut investment in the nine months through December, even as cash on hand soars and profits are forecast to hit a record.
Capital spending dropped 0.1 percent in October-December, the third straight quarter of declines, data showed. In the same period, cash on hand at Japanese companies listed on the Nikkei 225 rose to almost 168 trillion yen ($1.4 trillion). That was double the level at the end of March 2013, three months after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office.
At the same time, spending overseas has continued to be strong, with net foreign domestic investment down only 5 percent last year from its 2013 peak, in data going back to 1996.
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