Off the AP Newwire. Any dea if latest attempt by Japanese government to revive economy will amount to anything. I don't even remember hearing about this latest plan yesterday or today or have I been totally asleep. <g>
FEBRUARY 28, 20:45 ET
Tokyo Stocks Continue Rally
TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo stocks continued to rally Friday after the central bank announced it would loosen monetary policy to fight deflation. The dollar was lower against the yen.
The Nikkei Stock Average gained 13.98 points, or 0.13 percent, to 10,601.81 in the first 30 minutes of trading. On Thursday, the average closed up 370.46 points, or 3.6 percent.
The dollar bought 133.47 yen in early trading, down 0.41 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and also lower than its level of 133.65 yen in New York.
Stocks edged higher early Friday, a day after the Bank of Japan announced it would try to increase cash flow in the financial sector by raising its monthly bond purchases to 1 trillion yen ($7.5 billion), up from 800 billion yen ($6 billion).
The measure is intended to help Japan fight deflation, a continuous fall in prices that erodes company profits and dampens economic activity.
The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section was up 0.15 point, negligible in percentage terms, to 1013. 95 early Friday. The TOPIX closed up 23.36 points, or 2.37 percent, the day before.
In other currencies, the euro was traded at 115.94 yen, up from 115.74 late Thursday in Tokyo.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond was unquoted in early trading. On Thursday, its yield finished at 1.5250 percent and its price settled at 99.78. |
