FOREX TRADING

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's economy contracted slightly less than initially reported in the final quarter of 2008, the government said Thursday.
Gross domestic product shrank a price-adjusted 3.2% on quarter during the October-December period, or 12.1% in annualized terms, revised data released by the Cabinet Office showed.
The revised figures confirm that a sharp fall in exports due to the global slowdown has battered the world's second largest economy. Companies slashed capital spending in reaction to tumbling profits and reduced demand for their products, while consumer spending was sluggish as shoppers worried about the worsening job market.

The headline figures were slightly better than the original estimates made a month ago of a 3.3% on-quarter fall, or an annualized 12.7% contraction. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Nikkei had forecast on average that the revised GDP data would show a contraction of 3.4% on quarter, or 12.8% on an annualized basis.

Capital spending was revised down to a decrease of 5.4% on quarter from a preliminary 5.3% fall, reflecting recent data that showed capital expenditure had fallen even more sharply than calculated for the preliminary GDP data.

Many analysts predict that Japan's economy will again shrink at a double digit pace in the first quarter of the fiscal year beginning April, because recent data have shown almost no sign of demand picking up.

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