Asian Markets: Survey shows more cuts in store for Japanese businesses

In Asia Thursday, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.2 percent. With China's markets closed, including Hong Kong's Hang Seng, investors closely watched Japan, where the Nikkei dropped 1.5 percent to close at 9,979.

This morning, the Bank of Japan released its Tankan Survey, which indicates business confidence and is a gauge of the health of the Japanese economy. The poll showed that large Japanese businesses are planning to reduce spending by 10.8 percent this year, sending shares sharply lower in many of the country's blue-chip companies.