Yen, stocks weaken as Bush visit ends


The Bush-Koizumi meeting in Tokyo produced vows of friendship but no specific recovery steps

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japanese stocks, the yen and bond prices skidded Tuesday as a U.S.-Japan summit ended without a specific set of policy steps to revive Japan's sagging economy.

Markets had expected President George W. Bush's three-day visit to coincide with new measures by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stabilize Japan's fragile financial system, fight deflation and steer the sinking economy out of recession.

But meetings between Bush and Koizumi on Monday and a speech before parliament on Tuesday produced only vows of friendship and a shared impression that reform was a good idea in principle.

Japanese banking and brokerage shares tumbled, hurt also by a credit ratings downgrade on two of Japan's top three brokerage houses by Moody's Investors Service.

Bush left Japan Tuesday for South Korea.

Tokyo stocks that had climbed nearly seven percent from an 18-year low on February 6 -- partly on hopes Koizumi would use the summit to unveil new measures -- ended sharply lower, led by Mizuho Holdings and other big banks.

Pushing Koizumi

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"This is the market pushing Mr Koizumi since Mr Bush didn't give him a strong enough push yesterday," said Kazunori Jinnai, equities general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

In a joint news conference on Monday, Bush expressed support for Koizumi's agenda of tough economic reforms, and Koizumi repeated he would take steps to reverse spiralling prices and prevent a financial crisis.

But no specific measures were announced on Japan's troubled banks or to arrest a three-year fall in prices, disappointing investors who had expected a strong nudge from Japan's biggest trade partner.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average ended down 246.09 points or 2.44 percent at 9,847.16, its biggest one-day percentage fall since December 13, when it shed 3.41 percent.

The broader capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 2.21 percent to 959.96.

Yen, bonds down

The yen, too, was weak. The dollar touched a high of 133.68 yen, up more than a yen from late New York levels.

"The market had been cautious just in case any surprises emerged during Bush's visit and had adjusted positions since last week, but now they are buying the dollar back," said a dealer at a foreign bank in Tokyo.

Government bond prices also sagged. Ten-year bond futures for March delivery fell 0.16 point to 136.72, while the yield on 10-year cash bonds rose 1.5 basis points to 1.520 percent.

Bush's speech to Japan's parliament on Tuesday morning failed to provide buying incentives for investors. The U.S. president expressed confidence that Japan would emerge from its recession if it took "bold action" to revive the economy.

Banking shares were also hurt by Tuesday morning's reiteration by Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa that there was no immediate need for an injection of public funds into ailing financial institutions.

"We are afraid the government's lack of urgency may result in a delay in anti-deflation measures it has said it would come up with by the end of this month," said Tokio Furuta, general manager at Tokai Tokyo Securities' equities trading.

Market players had interpreted some recent comments by economic ministers as suggesting an injection of taxpayers' money into banks could be imminent, prompting investors to cover short positions on banks.