Tokyo Stocks Fall Moderately
TOKYO, May 23, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) --
financial.washingtonpost.com
Jittery investors pushed the dollar higher against the yen Friday morning after two-days of dollar-buying intervention by Japanese monetary authorities. Tokyo stocks advanced moderately.
The dollar bought 125.16 yen in late morning trading, up 0.90 yen from late Thursday and above its late New York level of 124.98 yen.
The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 81.91 points, or 0.68 percent, to 11,897.94 at the end of morning trading. On Thursday, the average closed up 17.89 points, or 0.15 percent.
In currency dealings, the dollar moved higher as investors covered their short, or oversold dollar positions, after the Bank of Japan bought dollars on the European market Thursday, the second day of intervention in an attempt to stem the yen's rapid rise.
On Wednesday, market participants estimated the BOJ purchased up to dlrs 3 billion in Tokyo, helping the currency rise to the 124-yen level from a seven-month low of about 123.56 yen earlier in the day.
The size of Thursday's intervention in European trading was not immediately known.
Japanese finance officials worry about a higher yen because its makes Japanese exports more expensive abroad and thus less competitive. They say a lower yen would help the nation's economy recover from a long slowdown. |
