Well, so much for my hypothesis that Japan was seeing better times. Or maybe this has something to do with future price of oil.
Japanese stocks tumble 3.4
percent
Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press
TOKYO (March 18, 1999 2:16 a.m. EST
nandotimes.com) - Share prices in Tokyo tumbled
3.4 percent on Thursday, hit by a late wave of profit
taking on recent gains, brokers said.
Share prices took a sharp downturn "as investors
were wary of high prices," said Kazunori Jinnai, deputy
general manager at Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.'s equity
division.
"It was a speedy correction after a recent string of
rises," he said.
The Nikkei stock average of 225 leading issues lost
550.19 points to end at the day's low of 15,717.92.
The key index closed Wednesday at its highest level
since July last year.
nandotimes.com
Japan's suicide rate soars to
record high
Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press
TOKYO (March 18, 1999 2:40 a.m. EST
nandotimes.com) - The Japanese people committed
suicide in record numbers last year, officials said
Thursday, partly because of despair fueled by the
deepest recession since World War II.
Figures released by the Health and Welfare Ministry
showed the number of people who killed themselves in
the first 10 months of 1998 exceeded the figure for
any previous full year.
The heaviest toll was among men in their 50s.
During the first 10 months of 1998, 27,102 Japanese
took their lives -- more than the 25,667 people who
committed suicide in the whole of 1986, which was a
record year.
Of those ending their lives, 19,084 were men and
8,018 women, the ministry said, adding that the
figures were up 38.3 percent from the same period a
year earlier.
Men in their 50s accounted for the biggest number of
suicides compared to other age groups. Some 5,089
men in their 50s killed themselves, up a sharp 58.7
percent year-on-year.
"There are many factors that cause worry among men
in their 50s and 60s," said Yukio Saito, a psychiatrist
in Tokyo who heads a hot-line organization to prevent
suicides.
"The most important factor is economic condition, as
many are facing restructuring amid the recession,"
Saito said.
"Protected by a lifetime employment system, those in
their 50s and 60s have been working for years, and
now the system itself is crumbling," the psychiatrist
said.
"The basic economic foundation which they have taken
for granted is no longer what it was."
The suicide rate among men in their 60s was the
second highest, with 3,469 men taking their lives,
followed by men in their 40s with 3,463 suicides.
"We have seen an increase in suicides of those who
held managerial positions," said Saito, noting that the
recession and restructuring were hitting them hard.
The survey found 422 teenage boys killed themselves
in the 10 months, up 63.6 percent from a year earlier.
Saito attributed the rise to "continuing trend of school
bullying" at Japanese schools.
"Like the middle aged men, there are many factors
that drive boys to suicide, but the foremost reason is
bullying at school," he said.
nandotimes.com
Japan's Asian imports up in February, finance ministry reports
Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999 Agence France-Press
TOKYO (March 17, 1999 10:27 p.m. EST
nandotimes.com) - Japan's imports from Asia
increased in February for the first time in 14 months,
the finance ministry reported Thursday. The
assessment offered a glimmer of recovery in the
crisis-struck region.
Japan's trade surplus with its Asian neighbors fell 57.3
percent to 208.8 billion yen ($1.8 billion) during the
month.
Exports slid 18.0 percent to 1,196.9 billion yen but
imports staged a cautious recovery, moving up 1.8
percent to 988.2 billion yen.
Japan's imports from China were behind the recovery
in imports, rising a strong 19.2 percent in the month to
351.0 billion yen, expanding Japan's trade deficit with
China by 65.1 percent to 175.9 billion yen.
Tokyo also ran a deficit in the month with Indonesia
and Vietnam.
Imports from Singapore also rose, up 2.7 percent at
49.8 billion yen, shrinking Japan's trade surplus there
by 45.0 percent to 69.7 billion yen.
"The increase in Asian imports can be attributed to the
yen's strength against Asian currencies," said Koichi
Ono, economist at Daiwa Research Institute.
"But we can also say that this could be the first sign
showing the Asian economy has started to recover."
Japan's overall trade surplus slid 26.9 percent in
February to 934.2 billion yen, driven by a heavy fall in
politically-sensitive steel exports and a rise in aircraft
orders.
Exports in the month sagged 12.3 percent to 3,591.2
billion yen and imports fell 5.7 percent to 2,657.0
billion yen, the ministry said.
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Charles |
