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Strategies & Market Trends : Ride the Tiger with CD -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Boolish who wrote (149614)	3/2/2009 10:38:49 PM
From: Rocket Red	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 313148

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Drops Toward 26-Year Low on Recession Fears Email \| Print \| A A A By Masaki Kondo March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese shares dropped, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to the brink of a 26-year low, on concern the deepening recession will spark more financial losses and diminish demand for resources. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., the nation’s No. 1 casualty insurer, lost 5.4 percent after American International Group Inc. had the worst quarterly loss in U.S. history, prompting the government to inject more aid. Inpex Corp., Japan’s biggest oil explorer, retreated 4.5 percent as crude prices fell. Seafood maker Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. sank 4.3 percent after saying writedowns on its stockholdings will widen its net loss. The Nikkei fell 75.26, or 1 percent, to 7,204.89 at the 11 a.m. break in Tokyo, after falling as much as 2.6 percent to a level that would be the lowest closing value since October 1982. The broader Topix index declined 9.57, or 1.3 percent, to 725.02, with all but three of its 33 industry groups slumping. “U.S. coffers will be wiped out if the government nationalizes all of its financial institutions,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $615 million at Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “Investors are wondering which banks will be left to die and are fearful of its consequences.” Through yesterday the Nikkei has fallen 18 percent in 2009, extending last year’s record 42 percent dive as recessions in the world’s largest economies and global financial turmoil decimated corporate earnings. Japanese banks including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. have slashed annual profit targets in part because of increasing writedowns on stockholdings. Global Rout In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 4.2 percent to below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slid 5 percent to the lowest close in six years after HSBC Holdings Plc, the region’s biggest bank by value, said it plans to raise $17.7 billion and shed 6,100 jobs. Tokio Marine, which chopped its full-year earnings forecast by 88 percent last month on investment losses, dived 5.4 percent to 2,015 yen. Aioi Insurance Co. slipped 4.9 percent to 331 yen, and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. slid 5.2 percent to 436 yen. AIG yesterday said its fourth-quarter loss widened to $61.7 billion from $5.29 billion a year earlier. The New York-based insurer will get as much as $30 billion in new government aid, the Treasury Department said. Japanese shares pared losses after Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said the government can’t ignore “excessive declines” in the nation’s stock market. Yosano said on Feb. 26 that he ordered a study into ways to bolster equities. ‘Japan-Originated’ Crisis “There are growing expectations the government will take measures to bolster Japan’s stock market toward the end of this month,” the end of the nation’s fiscal year, Ichiyoshi’s Akino said. “Without such moves, financial companies here will possibly incur huge losses and trigger a Japan-originated financial crisis.” Inpex tumbled 4.5 percent to 597,000 yen, while Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. fell 5.5 percent to 3,240 yen. Nippon Mining Holdings Inc., the nation’s largest copper producer, sank 4.8 percent to 318 yen. Concern a deeper economic slump will diminish energy demand sent oil futures down 10 percent in New York yesterday to $40.15 a barrel, the sharpest drop since Jan. 7. A measure of six primary metals traded in London fell 2.2 percent. The Institute for Supply Management yesterday said its U.S. factory index stayed at 35.8 last month, below the 50 threshold that divides expansion and contraction. The gauge has remained below 50 since February 2008. Maruha Nichiro retreated 4.3 percent to 111 yen. The company yesterday widened its net loss forecast for the year to March 31 as it writes down the value of securities and as domestic sales wane. Nikkei futures expiring in March retreated 0.8 percent to 7,190 in Osaka and slumped 1.1 percent to 7,190 in Singapore. To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: March 2, 2009 21:53 EST