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

To: StanX Long who wrote (63594)	5/10/2002 12:06:05 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Yen Falls for First Week in Four; Moody's May Cut Japan Rating By Kanako Chiba and Mari Murayama quote.bloomberg.com Tokyo, May 10 (Bloomberg) -- The yen fell, finishing its first losing week in four against the dollar, on speculation Moody's Investors Service will cut Japan's credit rating as soon as today, damping the appeal of Japanese assets. The Japanese currency weakened to 128.57 against the dollar from 128.33 in New York yesterday. Against the euro, it declined to 117.35 from 116.64. It's down 1.3 percent against the dollar this week, after rising 3.9 percent in the previous three. Moody's has said it may lower Japan's rating by as much as two levels. It began a review of the rating in February, saying it would take up to three months. Overseas investors have sold more than a net 5 trillion yen ($39 billion) of Japanese bonds since Moody's last cut rates in December, according to government figures. ``A two-notch cut on Japan's rating will mean Japan as a nation has lost its credibility,'' said Kimihiko Tomita, head of foreign exchange sales at J.P. Morgan and Chase Bank in Tokyo. ``That may prompt foreigners to dump Japanese assets.'' A two-step downgrade would bring Japan's rating to ``A2,'' No. 6 of Moody's 10 investment-grade rankings. Moody's has been complaining that Japan may have trouble repaying its debt because of a recession.