The Dow Jones-Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi-UFJ weekly business barometer reversed direction in the latest week as vehicle production plunged, according to data released Thursday.

The barometer rose declined 1.1% in the March 3 week after jumping an unrevised 1.4% in the prior week.

The latest index was up 0.7% from its year-ago reading.

A statistically smoothed version of the index increased 0.1% after an unrevised 0.3% advance.

The DJ-BTMU barometer is a weighted, 10-component index designed as a coincident measure of overall economic activity. In the March 3 week, six components increased and four declined. Among the decliners, truck production plunged 39.3% and auto output fell 32.4%; each sector had surged in the prior week. Among the gainers, box office receipts rose 7.8% and lumber production was up 3.1%.

Real chain-store sales rose 1.3% in the latest week.

A separate DJ-BTMU index of production trends, which is drawn from the six production-related components and which is statistically indexed to the Federal Reserve's industrial production index, dropped 1.7% after an unrevised 1.9% gain in the prior week.

For the full report and revisions, please see: https://reports.us.bk.mufg.jp/portal/site

-By Kathleen Madigan, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2466; kathleen.madigan@dowjones.com