November 24, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 8, 1422

TOKYO, Nov 23: Share prices in Tokyo will likely be under pressure in the coming week as no fresh buying incentives are in sight, brokers said.

We are unlikely to see a rally, said Sakura Friend Securities broker Toshihiko Matsuno said.

There is no market-boosting factor, he said, adding Japan’s economic outlook was gloomy as the jobless rate was expected to rise further from a record high of 5.3 per cent in September.

The key Nikkei index of 225 select issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 47.73 points, or 0.4 per cent, in the past week to close at 10,696.82 on Thursday. Markets were closed Friday for a national holiday.

The Topix index of all first-section issues rose 9.44 points to 1,062.47. Average daily turnover was 738.5 million shares worth 714.4 billion yen compared with 750.4 million shares worth 686.5 billion yen in the previous week.

Banks attracted buy-backs (in the past week) after the recent sell-offs, but nobody is convinced that banks’ bad-loan problems will be ending any time soon, Matsuno said. Everybody is looking for the next chance to sell.

Nomura Securities senior market analyst Masaaki Higashida said major banks are making great efforts for write-offs but still fall short of the world’s expectations.

The stock market would not greet the efforts with selling but would also find it difficult to welcome it with vigorous buying, Higashida said, adding any buying might be only temporary.

Sakura Friend’s Matsuno said if the market stages a rally, it would be from the success of streamlining bloated public corporations under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s pledge to reform Japan’s social and economic structure.

Reform programmes have met with strong opposition from the (ruling party) old guard with vested interests if the premier could beat these guys, his reform plan would get a boost, he said.

Major banking group UFJ Holdings Inc., which said Thursday it would step up bad loan disposal and write off two trillion yen in non-performing loans by March, gained 15,000 yen, or 3.3 per cent, over the week to 465,000 yen.

Other mega-banks also went up. Mizuho Holdings Inc. surged 34,000 yen, or 10.8 per cent, to 349,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. climbed 73 yen, or 10.9 per cent, to 745 yen.

Carmakers rose thanks to the yen’s fall against the dollar, with Toyota Motor Corp. advancing 240 yen, or 7.9 per cent, to 3,260 yen.—AFP