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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (59841)	2/1/2002 2:07:50 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Japan's Topix Slides to Lowest Since April 1985 as NEC Plunges By Tomoko Yamazaki 02/01 01:34 quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's Topix stock index slumped to its lowest since April 1985. Chipmakers such as NEC Corp. dropped after the No. 3 chipmaker doubled its loss forecast on weaker demand for semiconductors and personal computers. Mizuho Holdings Inc. and other banks made up more than a tenth of the Topix index's decline after Standard & Poor's yesterday said Japan faces the risk of a third cut in its credit rating. At the midday break, S&P said it has no intention to downgrade at the moment. ``There seems no end to the profit slump'' among major computer-related companies, said Yasuo Sakuma, who invests 80 billion yen ($594 million) in Japanese equities at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Asset Management Co. ``Japan is risking losing any benefit it gets from a global economic recovery because of delays in implementing real reforms.'' Sakuma keeps the same weighting in computer-related stocks as that of Topix's 17 percent. The Topix index of all shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section slid 15.51, or 1.6 percent, to 956.26, its lowest since April 24, 1985 on closing basis. The Nikkei 225 stock average fell to its lowest since Sept. 28, down 206.37, or 2.1 percent, to 9791.43. For the week just ended, the Topix lost 3 percent while the Nikkei lost 3.5 percent.