Strong yen pushes overseas investors away

The Yomiuri Shimbun

August marked record lows at the Tokyo stock market--the strong yen made foreign investors reluctant to buy Japanese stocks, while individual domestic investors took a wait-and-see attitude in response to uncertainty over the economy.

The average daily trading value at the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section was down by 22 percent from the same month last year to 1.17 trillion yen, plunging to levels not seen since August 2004.

August stock prices also were sluggish. The Nikkei Stock average dropped by 713 yen, or 7.5 percent, and went below 9,000 yen on Aug. 24 for the first time in about 16 months.

Analysts say that trading will continue to be light due to the political uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Democratic Party of Japan presidential election.