http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/08/30/markets/wires/asiaopen_re/index.htm Tokyo slides as sun rises Broad market gauge hits lowest level in 2-1/2 years August 30, 2001: 8:35 p.m. ET TOKYO (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled in Japan early Friday after steep falls on Wall Street spooked investor sentiment, already hurt by dwindling corporate profits and a weakening domestic economy.

The early sell-off pushed a key broad market gauge below 1,100 for the first time since March 3, 1999.

"This is the market's way of encouraging the government to quickly come up with policy measures to facilitate structural reforms and to solve banks' bad-loan problems," said Hiroichi Nishi, a general manager at Nikko Securities.

"As long as this gap between the market's expectations and the government's actual policy steps gets wider, stocks will continue its downtrend."

The capital-weighted Topix fell 18.38 points or 1.7 percent to 1,096.20 in early trading while the widely followed Nikkei average slid 213.22 points or 1.9 percent to 10,725.23.

Major banks extended their recent slides. Mizuho Holdings Inc., the world's largest bank by assets, fell 2.1 percent to 470,000 yen, extending its loss of more than 10 percent over the previous two sessions.

Bank shares are under renewed pressure after Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said this week the outstanding balance of bad loans at major banks would likely remain near current levels through fiscal 2003.

High-tech stocks followed the U.S. Nasdaq lower.

Top chipmaker Toshiba Corp fell 3 percent to 616 yen and Advantest Corp., a major manufacturer of semiconductor testing devices, lost 4.2 percent to 6,770 yen.

-- (MarkS@begga.com), August 31, 2001

Answers

Yes, and I've noted that the tech drops are much deeper than they are here in the U.S. And, we all know how the NASDAQ has been doing. Conclusions, anyone?

-- Chance (fruitloops@hotmail.com), August 31, 2001.