Business sentiment surveys

Korean manufacturers' outlook rises to 86 while six in 10 expect to miss profit targets

KCCI's manufacturing outlook rose 6 points to 86 for the fourth quarter, yet 60.4% of 2,413 Korean manufacturers expect to miss this year's profit targets. Production costs are the main obstacle for 43.2% of firms, against 24.9% citing weak orders, so the profit gap comes mostly from input prices.