By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Izumi Nakagawa
TOKYO (Reuters) - Confidence among Japanese manufacturers rose in April but it is expected to worsen again in the coming three months, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday, reflecting concerns about the yen's rise and tepid overseas demand.
The Reuters Tankan, which tracks the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey, found the service sector's mood soured in April and saw it getting worse because of the weakness in private consumption, which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy.
In the poll of 510 big and mid-sized companies between April 1-15, exporters of cars and electronics complained about a rapid rise in the yen, which respondents believed could hamper Japan's recovery prospects and its effort to overcome two decades of deflation and stagnation.
A total 253 firms responded to the monthly poll.
"The yen's rise of nearly 10 yen since February and uncertainty over China's economy" hurt business conditions, a manager at a machinery producer said in the survey, which companies answer anonymously.
The dollar so far this year is down about 10 percent, on track for its worst performance since 2010, prompting verbal warnings from Japanese policymakers against investors pushing up the yen too rapidly.
The dollar was hovering around 109 yen, after hitting a 17-month low of 107.63 yen last week on expectations that the United States would go slow in raising interest rates.
"On top of effects from the yen's gain, economic conditions in Asia and Japan are bad," said a manager at an electric machinery maker. A chemicals company respondent said: "We're very concerned about the future although our business results have not worsened much despite the current yen strength and tame share prices."
The Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers rose to 10 in April from 6 in March, led by materials industries such as oil refineries and steelmakers. It is seen sliding back to 6 in July.
The service-sector index fell to 23 from 24 in March and is seen declining to 15 in July, weighed on by retailers, information/communications and transport/utilities.
The last BOJ tankan on April 1 found that confidence among Japan's big manufacturers had hit the lowest in nearly three years and was seen worsening in the coming quarter, piling pressure on the government and the central bank to roll out fresh stimulus.
Economists slashed their growth estimate at the start of this year, with lingering concerns that the economy may have suffered a second straight quarter of contraction - the definition of a technical recession.