Confidence among large Japanese manufacturers rose to the highest level in more than eight years, providing support for the Bank of Japan to continue raising interest rates.

The BoJ's quarterly Tankan survey released on Thursday showed that the large manufacturers' sentiment index rose to 24 in September from 22, improving for a sixth consecutive quarter. The median forecast of economists surveyed by media was 25. The Tankan survey is one of the data points most closely watched by the Bank of Japan.

The sentiment index for large non-manufacturers edged down to 35 from 37. A positive reading means more companies consider business conditions "good" than "bad."

The latest Tankan survey shows that Japanese companies continue to demonstrate resilience, which could further strengthen market expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates again within the year.

Strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has cushioned the negative impact of the Middle East war. Japan's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) has remained in expansion territory every month so far this year; at the same time, rising real wages are also supporting demand in the services sector.