Japan¡¯s economy likely shrank sharply in the second quarter, which would be bad news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s growth policies, but it could raise market expectations of further stimulus.
Data due at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday will show gross domestic product contracted at a 7.1 percent annual rate from the previous three months as a sales-tax hike battered consumption, economists forecast in a Reuters poll.
The deepest slide since the global financial crisis and the first in nearly two years could call into question Abe¡¯s program of ending 15 years of deflation and tepid growth with massive monetary easing, hefty government spending and structural reforms.
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