TOKYO, July 1 (Reuters) - Japanese business confidence pulled back from a record low hit three months ago as widely expected, the Bank of Japan's tankan corporate survey showed, as exports and output improved from a severe downturn late last year.
The headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment was minus 48 in June, the survey showed on Wednesday, improving from minus 58 in the previous quarterly survey in March. It was a smaller improvement than the market's median forecast of minus 43.
The index for September was seen at minus 30, showing firms expect conditions to improve further over the next three months but are still pessimistic overall.
A minus figure means pessimists outnumber optimists.
Many analysts believe the worst for Japan's economy is behind it with April-June GDP expected to show 0.4 percent growth after four straight quarters of contraction.
The global financial crisis has hit Japan the hardest of any industrialised country due to its dependence on big exporters for growth, leaving its economy vulnerable to the worldwide slump in demand for cars and electronics goods.
The closely watched tankan survey, which measures the short-term economic outlook of Japanese businesses, also showed big firms plan to cut their capital spending, a key driver of the economy, by 9.4 percent in the financial year to March 2010.
That is a bigger cut than the market's median forecast for a 6.9 percent cut.
The central bank started compiling the quarterly survey on big manufacturers' sentiment in 1974 when the economy was suffering from the first Middle East oil crisis. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Leika Kihara)