22 February 2005, 11:03  Tokyo Stocks Finish Lower; Dollar Down but Up Versus Euro

Tokyo stocks finished lower Tuesday on profit-taking sales in blue chip issues amid the absence of fresh news following a market holiday in the United States. The U.S. dollar was down against the Japanese yen but up versus the euro.
The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues fell 53.31 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 11,597.71 point. The index fell 9.10 points, or 0.08 percent, Monday.
The dollar was trading at 104.69 yen at 3 p.m. Tuesday, down 0.99 yen from late Monday in Tokyo and also below the 105.55 yen it bought in European trading later that day.
Stock prices declined as investors sold select blue chips as investors lacked market-moving news after Wall Street and other U.S. financial markets closed Monday for Presidents Day holiday.
Banks Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. fell, as did steels Nippon Steel Corp., Nisshin Steel Co. and Tokyo Steel MFG Co. High-technology issues Advantest Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd., also declined, along with telecoms NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.
The broader TOPIX index, which includes all issues on the market's first section, shed 4.25 points, or 0.36 percent, to finish Tuesday's trading at 1,162.49 points. The TOPIX gained 0.17 points, negligible in percentage terms, the day before.
In currencies, the dollar retreated against the yen in Asia following news that North Korea had showed a conditional willingness to return to the six-party talks, a forum to resolve the ongoing crisis over the country's nuclear development programs.
But dealers said the U.S. currency's declines against the yen and the euro are unlikely to last long.
"Today's dollar sales were rather technical. I don't think the dollar will continue to fall," said Masamichi Koike, head of foreign exchange spot trading group at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
The euro rose to $1.3173 Tuesday afternoon in Tokyo from $1.3064 late Monday. The 12-nation European currency was at 137.89 yen, down from 138.10 yen.

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