Tokyo Stocks End at 16-Year Low Tokyo Stocks End at 16-Year Low on Concern About the Outlook for Corporate Earnings TOKYO (AP) -- Tokyo stocks closed at a 16-year low Monday on concern about the outlook for corporate earnings and banks' efforts to write off bad loans. The dollar was weaker against the yen.

The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 298.76 points, or 2.51 percent, to close at 11,609.63 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On Thursday, the average closed up 15.81 points, or 0.13 percent.

The dollar bought 123.64 yen at 5 p.m. (4 a.m. EDT), unchanged from late Thursday in Tokyo but above its late Friday level of 122.94 yen in New York.

Japanese financial markets were closed Friday for a national holiday.

On the stock market, the Nikkei index -- prompted also by declines on Wall Street on Friday -- dropped to its lowest level since January 7, 1985, when it closed at 11,575.52.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.35 to 10,576.65 at Friday's close. The Nasdaq composite index closed at 2,029.37, down 17.22.

Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said he asked financial companies to take action to bolster the stock market, urging banks to lend more to manufacturers to spur investment, according to Kyodo News agency.

``I am very worried about the current trend of the stock market,'' Kyodo cited Shiokawa as saying.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters that the government will continue with his reform agenda regardless of ``the fluctuation of the market indicators.''

Koizumi was named prime minister in April amid popular support for reforms that include helping banks to write off hundreds of billions of dollars in bad debts.

The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section fell 31.49 points, or 2.63 percent, to 1,195.25. The TOPIX lost 4.42 points, or 0.37 percent, on Thursday.

On the first section, 1,107 issues fell, 262 issues rose, and 91 closed unchanged from Thursday.

Volume on the first section was estimated at 637.54 million shares, up from 596.60 million shares Thursday.

In currency dealings, the dollar was unchanged against the yen amid a lack of comments on exchange rates from the weekend meeting in Genoa, Italy, of the Group of Eight nations.

The G-8 is comprised of the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Canada, Japan and Russia.

In other currencies, the euro was traded at 107.36 yen, down from 108.24 yen late Thursday in Tokyo.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond fell to 1.3750 percent from Thursday's finish of 1.3800 percent. Its price rose 0.04 point to 98.47.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley1@netzero.net), July 23, 2001