03/21 01:26 Japan's Indexes Post Biggest Gains Since Nov. 97 (Correct) By Tomoko Yamazaki

Japan's Indexes Post Biggest Gains Since Nov. 97 (Correct)

(Corrects spelling in 2nd paragraph.)

Tokyo, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's key stock indexes staged their biggest rallies since November 1997 as investors said government-related funds such as postal savings waded into the market to support share prices.

``It's got to be some public pension funds buying to prop up the market,'' said Satoru Sakumoto, associate director at Barclays Capital Japan Ltd. ``Who else would have money to buy this aggressively?''

Mizuho Holdings Inc. and other banks rose after the Bank of Japan said it will push interest rates close to zero and urged policymakers to do their part in stopping the economy from sinking into recession. Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers led gains on expectations the yen's 7.8 percent plunge against the dollar this year will boost their overseas profit.

Stocks also got a boost after Lehman Brothers Inc. this week moved to an overweight position in Japan.

The Nikkei 225 stock average soared 912.97, or 7.5 percent, to 13,103.94, its biggest percentage gain since Nov. 17, 1999. The Topix index of all shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section rose for a fourth day, gaining 75.80, or 6.3 percent, to 1275.41.

Nikkei 225 futures for June delivery jumped 1000 yen to 13,000 in Osaka and rose 1050 yen to 13,050 in Singapore. Foreign investors bought 9.1 million more shares than they sold through 14 brokerages, according to orders placed before the market opened.

Gainers outpaced losers by 1370 to 66. Some 1060 million shares were traded, more than double the six-month daily average of 604 million shares.

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-post-new.tcl?topic=Grassroots%20Information%20Coordination%20Center%20%28GICC%29

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), March 21, 2001

Answers

That's an interesting method for dealing with their end of March, stock valuation problem. However, we know that just gives others an opportunity to sell if they were snoozing before. In other words, its a temporary fix, just like interest rate cuts.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@altavista.com), March 21, 2001.