A majority of companies in South Korea are pessimistic about business conditions for next month as fears of China's weakening growth and its stock market rout cloud the outlook for the global economy, a survey showed Sunday. 
  

According to the poll conducted on the country's top 600 companies by the Federation of Korean Industries, the business survey index for September stood at 95.1.
  

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists about business conditions down the road.
  

The figure peaked at 103.7 in March and has since taken a downslide for six consecutive months to hit 89.6 in August.
  

The FKI attributed the negative sentiment to the slowing Chinese economy and uncertainties surrounding the U.S. interest rate rise, which was coupled by declining overseas sales by major exporters.
  

The respondents remained pessimistic about domestic demand, exports and investment for September, while expecting an improving job market on back of a series of government's labor measures aimed at boosting youth employment.
  

"The business sentiment has recovered to a level before the Middle East Respiratory outbreak (in May), but it still falls below 100," Hong Sung-il, a finance strategy director at FKI, said.

"Companies should come up with measures to deal with the volatility in the global financial market stemming from China-driven risks." (Yonhap)