http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=424755
*Topix at 25-yr low, Nikkei nears 26-yr low on battered financial sector*
*TOKYO*, Feb. 20 KYODO
The Topix stock index hit a new 25-year low Friday, with the Nikkei
nearing a 26-year low, on growing uncertainty over crippled global financial
institutions reeling under the weight of a deepening recession.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 141.27 points, or 1.87 percent,
from Thursday to 7,416.38, its lowest finish since Oct. 27 when the Nikkei
dived to a 26-year low in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of U.S. investment
bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange was down 12.06 points, or 1.60 percent, to 739.53, marking its
lowest close since Jan. 5, 1984, when it closed at 737.39.
Rubber product issues declined the most after Bridgestone dropped 100
yen, over 7 percent, to 1,251 yen, on dismal 2008 earnings that saw a 92.1
percent plunge in group net profit from the previous year due to falling
sales of tires.
Of the 33 sectors on the TSE, only the mining and insurance sectors
advanced.
Brokers said rumors of the possible nationalization of cash-strapped
U.S. financial giants like Citigroup Inc. continued to bruise sentiment on
the Tokyo market after the Dow Jones index slid to a six-year closing low
overnight on sharp selling of banking shares.
''The nationalization issue is hurting the markets in the sense of
reinforcing the fact that the damage to financial institutions is that
severe and financial uncertainty that deep,'' said Yutaka Shiraki, a senior
equity strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co.
Volume leader Mizuho Financial Group fell 8 yen, over 4 percent, to 188
yen while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 10 yen, over 2 percent, to 429
yen.
The retail sector also came under heavy selling pressure as Seven & I
Holdings tumbled 125 yen, over 5.5 percent, to 2,135 yen after Japan's
antimonopoly watchdog began investigating its unit Seven-Eleven Japan Co.
for allegedly preventing its franchise convenience stores from selling
certain items at bargain prices.
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings fell 35 yen, nearly 5 percent, to 673 yen
after industry data showed Thursday that department store sales in Japan
fell 9.1 percent in January from a year earlier due to sluggish New Year
bargain sales.
Other notable decliners included paper and pulp, and construction
issues.
On the First Section, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,269
to 344, with 103 others finishing unchanged.
Bucking the trend, resource-related shares were strong with value
leader Sumitomo Metal Mining climbing 45 yen, nearly 5 percent, to 1,024
yen. Inpex also rose 8,000 yen, just over 1 percent, to 663,000 yen after
benchmark crude oil futures in New York made a strong rebound on Thursday.
Trading volume on the main section came to 1,893.93 million shares,
compared with Thursday's 1,860.12 million shares.
The TSE's Second Section index lost 14.18 points, 0.78 percent, to
1,810.71 on a volume of 28.79 million shares. On the Osaka Securities
Exchange, the near-term March Nikkei 225 index futures contract was down 190
points to 7,380.
==Kyodo
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