Japan's Nikkei Falls Sharply in Morning
Sunday January 22, 10:20 pm ET
Japan's Benchmark Stock Index Declines Sharply As Unease Continues Over Probe of Web Firm
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's benchmark stock index fell sharply Monday morning as the market's unease continued over a criminal probe into prominent Internet company Livedoor Co.
The Nikkei 225 lost 227.27 points, or 1.45 percent, to end morning trade at 15,469.42 points. Earlier, the market fell as much as 2 percent.
The index last week fell 4.6 percent, a stunning drop triggered largely by investors' anxiety over an investigation by public prosecutors into possible fraud at Livedoor, an Internet startup that has grown by acquiring dozens of other companies.
Traders also took a cue from Wall Street where stocks plunged on Friday on lackluster earnings from General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc. while crude oil futures surged to more than US$68 per barrel.
The Dow dropped 213.32, or 1.96 percent, to 10,667.39, the largest one-day decline since April 15, while the Nasdaq fell 2.35 percent -- triggering declines in tech stocks in Japan, including Advantest Corp.
Traders said it was likely the Nikkei's slump would continue as the Livedoor probe progressed.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Sunday that it has boosted the trading capacity of its computerized trading system, but said it would continue to delay the start of its afternoon session by 30 minutes after a flood of orders forced the bourse to stop trading early Wednesday.
Following successful system tests over the weekend, the exchange -- the world's second-biggest -- can now handle an absolute limit of 5 million transactions daily, up from current 4.5 million, it said.
However, it will shut down trading it the number of transactions hits 4.5 million, the bourse said.
The broader Topix index of all shares on TSE's first fell 21.69 points, or 3.47 percent, to 1,602.70 by late morning.
In currency trading, the dollar was trading at 114.86 yen on the Tokyo foreign exchange market at 11 a.m. Monday, down 0.40 yen from late Friday in New York.
The euro rose to US$1.2232 from US$1.2137 late Friday in New York.
The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell to 1.4500 percent Monday, down from Friday's finish of 1.4700 percent. Its price rose 0.17 point to 99.56.
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