Tokyo, March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa comments on the slide in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average. The Nikkei dropped below 8000 for the first time in two decades. The stock market is in ``a very severe condition.''
``There must be some speculation-oriented moves in the market. The movements in the market last week were weird, as there was massive trading.'' ``I don't know what the Tokyo Stock Exchange is looking at. It seems like there are speculative moves involving the banks and that's not a good thing. I will call the head of TSE to tell him my opinions, including the issue of deregulation.'' ``We will watch the currency market closely and if there is a rapid movement, we will take appropriate action.'' The yen rose to 116.78 to the dollar at 1:52 p.m. in Tokyo, from 117.09 yen late Friday in New York. //www.quote.bloomberg.com