Asian shares slip as Japan 'tankan' shows weaker outlook

Asian shares have mostly fallen as a resurgence of Russian attacks dashed hopes for any quick end to the war in Ukraine

TOKYO -- Asian shares were mostly lower Friday as a resurgence of Russian attacks dashed hopes for any quick end to the war in Ukraine.

The retreat followed a broad decline on Wall Street, which closed out its worst quarter since the pandemic broke out two years ago.

A closely watched quarterly gauge of business sector sentiment in Japan called the “tankan,” carried out by the Bank of Japan, found the benchmark indicator for large manufacturers dropped for the first time in seven quarters, losing three points from a survey in December to 14 points from 17 points.

The war in Ukraine, coming on top of supply chain disruptions at top manufacturers caused by COVID-19 restrictions and growing worries about inflation, especially soaring energy costs, are clouding the outlook for already fragile growth in the world's third largest economy.