Japan's stock market finished its worst year in history today after the world's second-largest economy was buffeted by the global financial crisis, a deepening recession and a soaring currency, The Telegraph reports.
The country's benchmark Nikkei 225 ends the year down 42%, exceeding a 39% drop recorded during the recession of 1990 when the economy was battling deflation. The Nikkei closed early this afternoon and does not re-open until January 5. "This year was a total disaster," said Tsuyoshi Nomaguchi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. "Nobody expected it to fall as much as it did." JAPAN IS REPORTEDLY planning an ambitious scheme to relieve the country's banks of trillions of yen in bad loans in a desperate attempt to breathe life back into the ailing economy, according to The Guar...
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