Japan's Cabinet Office released its consumer confidence index on Friday. The consumer confidence index increased to 41.7 in March from 40.1 in February, exceeding expectations for a rise to 40.5. It was the lowest level since January 2015.

The increase was driven by rises in all sub-indexes. The overall livelihood sub-index increased to 40.5 in March from 38.5 in February, the income growth sub-index was up to 40.6 from 39.8, the employment sub-index climbed to 43.9 from 42.2, while the willingness to buy durable goods sub-index rose to 41.7 from 40.0.