Japan's Reuters Tankan manufacturers' sentiment index rose to +13 in February (from +7 in January), the strongest reading since November, helped by improved machinery orders and a weak yen.

• Manufacturers +13 vs +7; non-manufacturers slipped to +25 from +32.
• Machinery makers jumped to +15 from 0, citing better order visibility.
• Transport machinery fell to +33 from +40 on softer domestic auto sales and China rare-earth rules.
• Survey ran Feb 3-13; 217 firms responded out of 492 contacted.
• Forward outlook: manufacturers +10 in May; non-manufacturers +23.