Archive for the ‘Stock Market’ Category
Japan Stocks Fall on Credit Concern
Japan’s stocks dropped, driving the Topix index below 1,000 points for the first time since December 2003, after the global credit crisis deepened in Europe and the yen jumped, cutting the value of overseas sales.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. plunged 9.2 percent after worsening credit conditions forced new bailouts of Hypo Real Estate Holding AG and Fortis. Nintendo Co., which gets 80 percent of its sales from overseas markets, lost 8 percent as the yen surged to its highest versus the euro since May 2006. Nippon Steel Corp. sank 7.8 percent on concern demand will wane.
“This is probably the worst market I’ve ever seen,” said Hideo Arimura, who oversees the equivalent of $1.9 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co. “It’s totally dark and there’s nothing that prompts investors to buy stocks.”
The Topix fell 48.92, or 4.7 percent, to close at 999.05 in Tokyo. Only 93 of 1,714 members included in the index rose. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 465.05, or 4.3 percent, to 10,473.09.
The Nikkei lost 8 percent last week, its biggest drop since August 2007, on concern the passage of a $700 billion bank bailout by the U.S. will fail to stimulate demand for Japan’s exports. The benchmark is down 32 percent this year, set for its second straight annual drop.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s largest listed bank, lost 9.2 percent to 806 yen, the steepest plunge since October 2003, while Resona Holdings Inc., the fourth biggest, plummeted 9.5 percent to 119,800 yen.
Europe Growth
Germany agreed on a $68 billion plan for commercial property lender Hypo and BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest lender, said it will take over Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg. The bailouts in Europe follow failures in the U.S., including Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that spurred the $700 billion rescue package.
