Government to intervene in stock prices

[Maciamo]

BBC News :Nikkei slides below 8,000

The Japanese Government has warned it might intervene in the stock market after the Nikkei 225 share index fell below 8,000 for the first time in 20 years.

The Nikkei fell to 7,975.4 before recovering to close at 8,042.26 points, down 101.86 points, or 1.25% from Friday.

The fall has been blamed on Japan's banking sector, which is beset by bad debts and has decided to issue new shares to raise capital.

On the weekend, Financial Services and Economy Minister Heizo Takenaka called on the Bank of Japan to buy shares, land and investment funds if the market continued to fall.

Government officials have also said it is prepared to intervene in the currency markets to prop up the US dollar.

Why not false the market a bit further... Anyway, Japanese prices are so artificial. Everything from gas to melon prices is set by big corporations lobbies working hand to hand with gov. officials.

[thomas]

Nikkei time-warped back to 1983. In all fairness, the same applied to other international stock exchanges during the past few days.

Japan business head says economy in critical state

The chairman of Japan's biggest business lobby said on Monday that the country's economy was in a critical state due to falls in stock prices and urged the government and the Bank of Japan to take action.

=> http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswi...rtr901645.html

BOJ was "urged to intervene..."