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

To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (61960)	3/13/2002 12:11:17 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Asian Stocks: Japan Falls, Led by Murata; Australia, H.K. Mixed By Tomoko Yamazaki quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell, led by Murata Manufacturing Co. and other companies that make parts for phones, after Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nokia Oyj lowered quarterly sales forecasts, renewing concerns over the timing of the industry's recovery. The Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.5 percent to 11,547.94, erasing an earlier 1.4 percent gain. The Topix index slumped 1 percent to 1087.13. Mizuho Holdings Inc. and other banks made up about a quarter of the Topix's decline as companies unloaded the shares they hold in other companies ahead of the fiscal year end on March 31. ``Fundamentals for corporate earnings haven't improved enough for the recent gains to continue,'' said Yoshihiko Ito, who helps oversee $1.2 billion in Japanese equities at Asahi Life Investment Co. ``Without a solid structural reform that would help stem price declines and restore health to the banking industry, gains won't be sustained.'' In other markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 percent as QBE Insurance Group Ltd. after it posted its first loss ever because of the U.S. terrorist attacks. Concerns that telecommunications industry earnings will take longer to recover also drove Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index 0.2 percent lower as China Mobile (H.K.) Ltd. tracked the Nasdaq Composite Index's drop.