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The Japanese economy contracted less than economists had expected in the second quarter as companies increased spending, signaling that the nation is rebounding from a slump after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March. Gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 1.3 percent rate in the three months ending June 30, posting three consecutive quarters of declines, the Cabinet office said Monday in Tokyo. The median forecast of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 2.5 percent drop. Capital investment rose 0.2 percent, compared with a revised 1.4 percent decline in the first quarter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TOKYO TRADERS here are fond of joking that no one has lost money betting against Japan since the collapse of the bubble economy of the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]