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To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (613)	3/21/2001 8:20:07 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2248

Asian Stocks: Japan's Mizuho, Banks Seen Rising; Australia Down By Tomoko Yamazaki Tokyo, March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese banking stocks may rise, led by Mizuho Holdings Inc. on a report 16 major banks will write-off more bad loans than expected, bolstering investor confidence they're pushing ahead with efforts to clean up their balance sheets. Key indexes yesterday posted their biggest rallies since November 1997 after the Bank of Japan effectively cut interest rates to near zero and on speculation government-related funds stepped into the market. Pension and postal savings funds may continue buying today, some traders said. Still, Toshiba Corp. may fall after it cut its profit outlook. ``We are starting to see concrete efforts among banks to clean up their bad loan problems,'' said Kunihiro Hatae, a manager at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. Still, ``the most important profit growth outlooks remain uncertain. '' In other markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.8 percent, led by banks such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia as investors bet that the central bank may lower interest rates next week to kickstart the economy, hurting lending income. Japan's Nikkei yesterday closed up 912.97, or 7.5 percent, to 13,103.94. The Topix index of all shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section rose for a fourth day, gaining 75.80, or 6.3 percent, to 1275.41. Stocks may also get a boost from a Nihon Keizai newspaper report that the government is trying to more individual investors to the stock market by abolishing the rule that sets the minimum investment unit at 50,000 yen in par value. Since most Japanese stocks have par value of 50 yen, at least 1,000 shares have to be purchased per unit under the current system, which was implemented in 1981. Australia Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 25.20 to 3200.10. Commonwealth Bank of Australia led the 1.4 percent decline in the ASX Banks index, falling 2.1 percent to A$28.65, as investors bet the central bank may lower interest rates next week to kickstart the economy, hurting lending income. The Reserve Bank is expected to reduce its overnight cash target rate to 5 percent on April 3, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 15 economists. That would be the first time the bank has lowered rates three months in a row since it first published the target rate in 1990. ``When interest rates are falling quite quickly, it also means the economy is slowing,'' said Lindsay Taylor, economist at BT Funds Management in Sydney. ``People are less likely to be taking out loans. It also means (the bank's) margins are contracting.'' BHP Ltd. rose 0.9 percent to A$20.38 and Rio Tinto Ld. gained 1 percent to A$34.15. Australia's largest resources company and the world's second-largest mining company gained as rate cuts tend to help boost corporate profits for stocks whose performances are closely tied to the economy such as for resource companies. Of 21 major indexes, the S&P/ASX 200 is the second-best performing so far this year behind the Mexico Bolsa Index. Brambles Industries Ltd. fell 2.1 percent to A$44.75 after the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a complex maze of tax issues is holding up the $A17 billion industrial services merger with Britain's GKN Plc. The two companies have been in talks over the past week trying to work out whether it's still worthwhile proceeding with the merger in its present form, the newspaper said without citing sources. Brambles shares have gained 10 percent since Jan. 15 when a possible merger was first announced. quote.bloomberg.com