Confidence among Japan's biggest manufacturers fell sharply in the second quarter to June, the Bank of Japan's quarterly business survey showed yesterday, suggesting a stuttering recovery for the world's third-largest economy.

But experts noted while the data showed lingering concern, it did not reflect the relief over a truce reached over the weekend in the damaging US-China trade war.

The central bank's July Tankan report -- a quarterly survey of about 10,000 companies -- showed a reading of 7 -- against market consensus of 9 -- among major manufacturers, a steep fall from 12 in the previous quarter.

The latest indication of Japan's economic health comes after the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies, where US and Chinese leaders agreed to resume trade talks, easing tensions that have bruised the global economy.

The second consecutive quarterly fall comes as "the Japanese manufacturing sector has been affected by weakening business confidence due to China-US trade frictions and a slowdown in the Chinese economy," as well as a decline in IT demand, Naoya Oshikubo, Senior Economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management (SMTAM), said in a commentary.