Nikkei falls below 19,000 first time since Mar 16 Nikkei falls below 19,000 first time since Mar 16

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average fell below the 19,000 mark for the first time since March 16, adding to early losses as Nasdaq composite futures traded on Globex extended last week's tumble in U.S. share prices, traders said.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders assumed they will see a further sell-off in U.S. trading hours later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research.

The Nikkei average had fallen 1,522.30 points or 7.45 percent to 18,912.38 as of 0118 GMT.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000416/by.html

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average fell below the 19,000 mark for the first time since March 16, adding to early losses as Nasdaq composite futures traded on Globex extended last week's tumble in U.S. share prices, traders said.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders assumed they will see a further sell-off in U.S. trading hours later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research.

The Nikkei average had fallen 1,522.30 points or 7.45 percent to 18,912.38 as of 0118 GMT.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000416/by.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 16, 2000

Answers

Nikkei Down over 8%(1800+ points)

Sunday April 16 9:56 PM ET

Nikkei Dives in Wake of Wall St. Carnage

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo stocks dived more than eight percent on Monday after last week's carnage on Wall Street prompted investors to bail out of both old and new economy shares.

The frenetic selling triggered circuit breakers that forced a brief halt to trade in TOPIX futures and options. The Tokyo Stock Exchange also temporarily restricted arbitrage selling of all stock indices as the tumble gathered pace.

The dollar jumped, rising to 105.50 yen from around 104.60/70 yen in early Tokyo trading due in part to unconfirmed talk of dollar buying by the Bank of Japan.

In addition to the impact from U.S. trading, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average was dragged down by selling related to Sunday's announcement of a planned reshuffle in its components to reflect Japan's shift to the new economy, traders said.

``Falls in U.S. stocks dragged down Tokyo shares. But the reshuffle in the Nikkei component played a major role, too,'' said Kazunori Jinnai, a deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities SB Capital Markets.

At 0130 GMT, the benchmark Nikkei average had plunged to 18,700.93, losing 8.48 percent of its value and slipping below 19,000 for the first time since March 16.

Nasdaq Futures Slide Further In Asian Trade

A slide of 100 points, or three percent, in the Nasdaq composite futures contract for June traded on Globex further hurt sentiment.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders assumed they would see further sell-offs again in U.S. trading hours later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research. The Dow Jones industrial average logged a record single-day point fall on Friday, closing down 617.78 points or 5.66 percent at 10,305.77 and the technology-driven Nasdaq composite index lost a record 355.49 points or 9.67 percent to close at 3,321.29 as higher- than-expected inflation numbers traumatized Wall Street.

``Even before Friday's New York tumble, some IT (information technology) issues like Softbank Corp and Oracle Corp Japan had been in a correction phase. These shares are especially vulnerable to the New York drop,'' said Kunihiro Hatae, an equities general manager at Tokyo Securities.

High-Tech Shares Battered

Among the biggest losers in Tokyo's morning bloodbath were high-tech shares, following their U.S. counterparts' nosedive.

Sony Corp was ask-only at 12,880 yen against Friday's close at 13,280. A day earlier local media reported the trade ministry was slapping export controls on its hugely hyped new Playstation2 video game machine because it could be used for military purposes.

Internet investor Softbank Corp was ask-only at 60,300 yen against its close at 61,300. It closed down 7.54 percent on Friday and has lost about 70 percent of its value since marking an intraday peak of 198,000 yen on February 15.

Shares in ``Old Japan'' stocks such as steelmakers and miners were being heavily sold.

But not all analysts had lost hope.

``The markets will naturally see some rough going until the Nasdaq and U.S. stock markets begin to show signs of stability,'' said Kathy Matsui, chief equities strategist at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo.

``I think foreign investor selling which is now coming through will be temporary and I also think there will be continued buying on weakness in some of these tech and communications,'' she said.

But traders said the plunge of both the Dow and the Nasdaq had been especially shocking since Japanese investors had thought they could rely on ``old economy'' stocks as a safe haven in the face of volatility among high-tech shares.

Kawasaki Steel Corp fell 10.22 percent to 167 yen, Nippon Steel Corp dropped 8.46 percent to 238 yen and Sumitomo Metal Industries lost 5.0 percent to 76 yen.

Shares being removed from the Nikkei 225 average were also hit hard.

Matsui said the damage from the change in the Nikkei average composition could, however, be limited.

``The timing could have been better,'' she said.

``But most additional names are already owned in portfolios. Few hold the companies to be deleted, so I expect the impact of the deletion and adds overall to be quite minimal.''

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000416/bs/markets_japan_2.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 16, 2000.