Japan's stock prices opened sharply lower Tuesday morning
8:20 PM ET Nov 20, 2000 NewsWatch
TOKYO (CBS.MW) - Japan's stock prices opened sharply lower Tuesday morning after besieged Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori managed to survive a no-confidence motion with a last minute talk, but disappointed investors who had expected changes in the country's politics.
Biotech Stocks: Sellers rule The Nikkei Average dropped 1.41 percent, or 204.71 points, to 14,326.94, shortly after the open. The broader TOPIX was down 1.32 percent at 1,352.92 points.
Political disorder also fueled selling of Japanese currency as investors worry that Mori's cabinet has been made even more unstable by the chaos within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The dollar climbed to an 8-month high of 110.35 yen in New York after Mori overcame the opposition challenge. It later pared some gains and was trading recently at 109.65 yen, still higher compared with 109.13 yen quoted late Monday in Tokyo.
In the stock market, investor sentiment was also badly beaten after U.S. markets fell overnight, with the Nasdaq dropping 5 percent to its lowest close since October last year. Shares of Toshiba tumbled 3.7 percent to 732 yen and those of Fujitsu Ltd. (FJTSY: news, msgs) lost 3.4 percent to 1,722 yen.
Shares of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT: news, msgs) saw its shares fall 1.1 percent to 916,000 yen.
Broad-based shares faced selling in South Korea, where the benchmark Kospi dropped 1.61 percent to 528.76 points in early morning.
The country's main opposition party on Monday launched a boycott of the National Assembly, delaying legislation including a bill for 40 trillion won in public funds needed for financial sector reforms, according to Reuters. The news slashed banking shares. Shares of Shinhan Bank Co. (SHBSF: news, msgs) tumbled 6.2 percent to 11,250 won and Cho Heung Bank (CHGBY: news, msgs) fell 5.8 percent to 2,755 won.
Among technology and telecommunication sectors, shares of Samsung Electronics Ltd. (SSNGY: news, msgs) sank 5.3 percent to 152,500 won and those of SK Telecom Ltd. (SKM: news, msgs) were down 2.4 percent to 259,500 won. |
