Around the World: Tokyo

TOKYO

THE NIKKEI 225 share index yesterday fell 202.09 points - 1.2 per cent - to 16,495.02, its lowest level in a fortnight. The weakness was prompted by profit taking in international blue chips and by hedge selling on the futures market.

Confidence has been affected by the latest IMF report, which forecasts a bigger slowdown in the Japanese economy this year. Investors are also waiting for further evidence that pension funds are ready to commit money to the stock market at the start of the new fiscal year.