TOKYO (AP) — Sentiment among big manufacturers slipped in the most recent quarter, Japan's central bank said Thursday, underlying the shaky footing for the nation's economic growth.

The bank's closely watched "tankan" survey, released Thursday, fell 3 points to a plus 12 in September. The tankan measures corporate sentiment by subtracting the number of companies saying business conditions are negative from those responding they are positive.

Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Co., said the survey for the third quarter showed overall pessimistic sentiment, but other indicators, such as prospects for profits and plans for construction spending, were upbeat, providing some hope for the economy.

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been trying to pull itself out of decades of doldrums by encouraging foreign investment and fighting deflation, a constant drop in prices that deadens growth.

Analysts said the survey did not give a strong indication either way, meaning that the Bank of Japan would likely continue with more of the same, although Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG in Singapore, was not ruling out surprise moves from central bank Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda.

Aw noted the message was mixed, with the small manufacturing index flat at 0, while large non-manufacturing index rose to 25 from 23, both better than expected. The main reading was slightly worse than expected.

"The Japanese government will campaign much harder for the BOJ to step up its monetary easing. The markets will also amplify their calls for BOJ to do more. That said, BOJ governor Kuroda is fairly confident that the inflation path is still on track, which hints that there is a mismatch in expectations," he said.

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