Hot off the wire.
Share Prices Nosedive in Tokyo as BOJ Maintains Monetary Policy
TOKYO (Sept. 22) XINHUA - Stock prices plunged in Tokyo
Wednesday as investors rushed to sell stocks after the Bank of Japan
(BOJ), contrary to market expectations, refused Thursday to ease its
monetary grip further.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues on the First Section of
the Tokyo Stock Exchange tumbled 607.03 points, or 3.39 percent from
Tuesday's close to end at 17,325.76. The decline is the largest single
day's loss so far this year.
The broader-based Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX), covering all First
Section issues, lost 50.05 points or 3.27 percent to 1,479. 28.
Turnover on the major section went up to 590.65 million shares from
561.77 million shares Tuesday.
Hitachi was the day's volume leader. The BOJ announced Tuesday after
the stock market closed its decision to leave its monetary policy
unchanged, although market players had expected monetary easing to
prevent the yen from rising further.
The central bank's unexpected decision led the U.S. dollar to as low as
103.78 yen at one stage in New York on Tuesday. The dollar's fall
stirred stock selling, leading both the Dow Jones Industrial Average
and the technology-heavy NASDAQ composite index sharply lower, traders
said.
share prices were lower in most business sectors in Tokyo, and
export-oriented technology issues faced strong selling.
Of the issues listed on the First Section, losers far outnumbered
gainers 1,044 to 206, with 91 issues remaining unchanged.
On the Tokyo Foreign Exchange, the U.S. dollar fell against the yen, on
selling by Japanese institutional investors and U.S. hedge funds.
At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 104.27-30 yen, down from 105.22-25
yen at 9 a.m., and from 104.80-90 yen in New York overnight. The U.S.
currency was traded at 105.40-45 yen in Tokyo late Tuesday. Enditem
22/09/99 15:35 GMT |
