so much for the great bush effect!
Tokyo stocks end sharply down as Bush visit ends
(UPDATE: Updates to close)
TOKYO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Tokyo stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday as a three-day
visit by U.S. President George W. Bush ended without yielding any concrete policy steps to revive Japan's ailing economy.
Some investors had expected Bush's visit to give a shot of adrenalin to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's pledged economic
reforms, in particular the disposal of banks' mounting bad debts.
Those hopes proved to be in vain, sending Mizuho Holdings , the world's biggest bank by assets, down 7.36 percent to
214,000 yen.
``We shouldn't have expected anything new on economic issues in the first place because President Bush didn't bring any
experts like (White House Economic Adviser Lawrence) Lindsey,'' said Hiroshi Nishida, general manager at Mitsubishi Trust
Asset Management.
The benchmark Nikkei average was down 246.09 points or 2.44 percent at 9,847.16, the biggest one-day percentage fall
since December 13, when it lost 3.41 percent. |
