I think there's a little bit of a disconnect between the CEO's being "modestly upbeat" and then the overwhelming majority see sales going up this year. But overall, good news I believe.

U.S. chief executive officers are modestly more upbeat about the economy and almost half plan to increase capital spending over the next six months, a business group survey said on Tuesday.

CEOs expect U.S. gross domestic product to rise by 2.8 percent this year, compared to a projection of a 2.4 percent increase a quarter earlier, according to the first-quarter survey by the Business Roundtable.

Of the 120 CEOs who responded to the survey, 45 percent expect to boost U.S. capital spending in the next six months, up from 36 percent in the fourth-quarter survey. Forty percent expect to increase U.S. employment, about the same level as in the prior survey.

The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index, a composite index of expectations for the next six months for sales, capital spending and employment, rose to 90.8 from 85.1 in the fourth quarter. The long-term average of the index is 80.5.

Eighty percent said they expected their companies' U.S. sales will increase in the next six months, up from 74 percent a quarter ago.