Tokyo shares close morning sharply lower on NASDAQ, yen and banks

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed the morning sharply lower following the downturn on NASDAQ overnight while the yen's sharp appreciation against the dollar hit the exporters, dealers said.

	    In addition, investors were cautious ahead of results from the major bank given concerns about what they say about bad debt write-offs and their cross-shareholdings, they said.

	    The Nikkei 225 index closed the morning down 263.67 points, or 1.87 pct at 13,804.03, just off the low of 13,801.46.

	    Trading volume was 404 mln shares.

	    The Topix index was down 18.55 points at 1,356.68, while the Nikkei 300 was off 3.96 points at 271.66.

	    There were 312 risers and 982 decliners, with 158 stocks unchanged.

	    The Nikkei June futures contract was down 260 points at 13,800 on the Osaka exchange and at 13,815 on the SGX.

	    Mizuho Investors Securities Co Ltd strategist Motoyoshi Uchida local high-techs fell across a broad front, hit by the "the yen's rise and the downturn of U.S. high-techs."

	    As a result, Rohm lost 320 to 23,180, with Advantest shedding 450 to 14,110 and Tokyo Electron off 330 at 8,820.

	    Nikon shed 69 to 1,541 and Canon lost 130 to 5,010.

	    Dealers said the yen's appreciation to beyond the 119 yen level sparked active selling among Japanese exporters.

	    Honda fell 280 to 4,960, with Toyota declining 30 to 4,220 and Suzuki down 13 at 1,475.

	    Nissan fell 24 to 814.

	    "To be honest, no one had expected the yen would break the 120 yen barrier (against the dollar)," Uchida said.

	    Dealers said investors were additionally cautious ahead of the peack corporate reporting season, with steel companies, Nintendo and Japan Energy among others to release results today.

	    "Investors are focusing more on the banks' results, including their stance on the sale of cross shareholdings and loan write-offs," Uchida said.

	    "If they show willingness to further step up loan write-offs in the new fiscal year, the market will appreciate that."

	    Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial was unchanged at 1.19 mln yen, after falling to 1.18 mln, following the surprise release of its year to March 2001 results

	    The bank was originally expected to release the financial statement at 3:00 pm today.

	    Mizuho fell 17,000 to 658 and UJF lost 6,000 to 765,000 ahead of their results due tomorrow.

	    Sumitomo Mitsu Banking shed 15 to 1,029 ahead of results due today.

	    Uchida also said there was some nervousness about results from the steel companies, with investors waiting on the outcome for a fresh lead on the prospects for the economy.

	    Nippon Steel fell 2 to 205, with NKK down 2 to 120 and Kawasaki Steel down 4 at 144.

	    Sankyo closed down 210 at 2,485 after its year to March 2002 profit warning yesterday.

	    Sanwa Securities Co Ltd senior analyst Kazuhisa Sugita said that given the further slowdown in sales of Mevalotine, the company will see a fall in earnings over the next few years.

	    Sugita, however, said the stock may not fall much below the 2,500 yen level, as "the market hopes that the company's management will change for the better."

	    Among other drugmakers, Daiichi Pharma fell 75 to 2,675.

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