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Japan Stocks Fall to 1 1/2 Year Low
Friday January 4, 6:26 am ET
Japanese Stocks Plunge to 1 1/2 Year Low Amid US Jitters, High Oil Prices
TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese stocks plunged Friday to their lowest finish since July 2006 after jittery trade on Wall Street amid concerns about the U.S. economy and rising oil prices.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index lost 616.37 points, or 4.03 percent, to finish Friday's half-day session at 14,691.41 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange -- it's lowest since it closed at 14,500.26 points on July 19, 2006.
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The TSE had been closed since last Friday for the New Year's holidays. The exchange resumes full-day trading Monday.
Many Asian exchanges -- most of which opened 2008 on Wednesday -- did not follow Japan's lead on Friday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 2.5 percent, while benchmark indices in China, Singapore and South Korea rose more than 0.5 percent.
Wall Street closed narrowly mixed Thursday after share prices dropped sharply the previous day on weaker-than-expected data for the U.S. manufacturing sector. Record oil prices that have topped $100 also pressured stocks on worries that higher fuel costs could slow investment, spending and growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.76, or 0.10 percent, to 13,056.72 Thursday. Crude oil futures set a fresh trading record of $100.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Worries about the economy in the United States -- a key export market for Japanese manufacturers -- and the dollar's weakness against the yen sent export-oriented shares down.
Increasing oil and raw material prices also took their toll on exporters, while giving commodity stocks a boost.
"High flying blue chip exporters are going to have a tough time coping with rising commodity prices, a stronger yen and a slowing U.S. economy," said Masanaga Kono, strategist at Societe Generale Asset Management.
Nissan Motor Co. plunged 9.2 percent to 1,117 yen. Toyota Motor Corp. finished 4.3 percent lower at 5,780 yen after hitting a 12-month low of 5,740 yen.
Sony Corp. fell 6.6 percent to 5,790 yen, while Canon Inc. dropped 5 percent to 4,940 yen.
Tokyo's broader Topix index of all shares on the exchange's first section, lost 63.77 points, or 4.32 percent, to 1,411.91.
TSE Chief Executive Atsushi Saito noted Friday that Japan was one of only a few industrialized nations to suffer a drop in share prices for 2007 as a whole, as the U.S. subprime mortgage problem cast a long shadow on markets around the world.
"This fact seems to reflect that our country is losing its attractiveness as a place of investment, while 'oil money' and other huge excess funds flow around the world," Saito said at a New Year ceremony.
"We must draw up concrete action plans in order to increase our attractiveness," he said.
In currencies, the dollar was trading at 109.20 yen in late afternoon, down from 109.33 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro fell to $1.4720 from $1.4744.
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