Tokyo - Tokyo stocks nosedived Monday, sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its lowest level in 26 years.

The Nikkei tumbled 486.18 points, or 6.36 per cent, to 7,162.9. The index has lost half its value this year.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also lost 59.65 points, or 7.4 per cent, to 746.46.

The Bank of Japan injected 600 billion yen (6.37 billion dollars) into the money markets Monday to ease a credit crunch as stocks prices plunged.

Tokyo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday ordered the government and the ruling parties to immediately implement measures to stabilize the stock market.

"Stock prices greatly influence the real economy," Aso said at a press conference. "In that sense, we have to consider various measures and implement them."

The government was expected to implement emergency measures such as a larger government fund to recapitalize ailing banks and help for employees to purchase stock in their companies, Aso said.

Tokyo - Seven of the world's leading industrialized countries expressed concern Monday over the yen's strength against other major currencies and pledged to cooperate in stabilizing the global financial system.

"We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability," said an emergency statement released by the Group of Seven (G7), which consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

The statement was released on Japan's request, Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said after the yen soared to a 13-year high against the dollar.

Tokyo - Tokyo's stock market opened Monday morning with light trading amidst a nervous mood among investors.

The Nikkei Index dropped 19.27 points in the first 18 minutes, or 0.25 per cent, to 7,629.81 points.

That was up from the opening figure, which had sunk beneath 7,500 - the lowest point since Japan's own speculation bubble burst in the early 1990s.

Investors were bracing for the release of new projections this week from Sony and other companies that will reduce expectations.

Tokyo/Obama, Japan - Welcome to Obama. Elderly residents in the small port town on Japan's west coast are getting ready for the US presidential elections, playing hula music to support their hero - Barack Obama.

The vast majority of them knows the Hawaii-born senator only from the television screen. And, like most of their countrymen, they did not give a toss about politics at the other side of the Pacific Ocean until recently.

But now, the residents of Obama, Japan, are cheering for the Democratic candidate because he puts their town, 400 kilometres west of Tokyo, on the map.

Tokyo - Ivan Basso returned from a doping ban by coming third in the Japan Cup race which saw an Italian podium sweep led by Damiano Cunego.