TOKYO. Apr 3: Big Japanese companies were more optimistic on business conditions for the fifth quarter in a row, boosting hopes that the economy is pulling out of its worst slide in half a century, a key survey showed on today, reports Reuters.

The Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan* survey of business sentiment also showed that major firms largely expect to end a two-year period of slashing capital investment, confirming an improvement in the second-biggest engine of the Japanese economy.

The tankan figures came in largely as expected, but economists cautioned that in an economic expansion, the survey’s results usually beat expectations — meaning this nascent recoven’ looks particularly fragile.

"This is a tankan which is probably at its highest point, and as we go down into the fiscal year we may see these numbers being revised downwards." said Noriko hama. research director at Mitsubishi Research Institute, "this is probably the zenith."

The authorities, meanwhile, were taking no chances, selling Ven tn the currency market to stop a surge in the Japanese currency from derailing the recovery.