Tokyo  - The Tokyo market ended morning trading lower Monday on worries about the US financial sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dipped 57.91 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 7,115.19.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also down 10.22 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 711.17.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 97.94-99 yen, up from Friday's 5 pm quote of 97.35-37 yen.

Tokyo  - Caught in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the end of World War II, Japan's political landscape looks a mess.

Taro Aso, leader of the world's second-largest economy and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are widely regarded as unable to lead Japan out of the slump.

Verbal gaffes and the recent resignation of his finance minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, who appeared to be drunk during a Group of Seven press conference sent Aso's support ratings below 10 per cent.

Tokyo - Japan's foreign exchange reserves dropped 1.6 billion dollars in February after the US Treasury bond prices and the appraisal value of the nation's euro-dominated assets fell, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The nation's foreign reserves fell for the second month in a row but remained barely above the 1-trillion-dollar level with 1.0093 trillion dollars.

As of the end of February, Japan held 892.34 billion dollars in foreign securities, while foreign currency deposits came to 87.81 billion dollars.

Tokyo  - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost more than 3 per cent Friday after Wall Street plunged overnight and the yen advanced against the US dollar.

The Nikkei index dropped 228.54 points, or 3.07 per cent, to 7,204.95 after it gained nearly 2 per cent the previous day on hopes in China's expected economic stimulus measures.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also down 16.45 points, or 2.22 per cent, to 725.1.

Tokyo - The office of Ichiro Ozawa, president of Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, received a total of 200 million yen (2 million dollars) in allegedly illegal corporate donations from the Nishimatsu Construction Company over 10 years, Japanese media said on Thursday.

The case of allegedly illegal corporate donations has stirred the nation's political scene and damaged Ozawa's chances of becoming the next prime minister in an election slated for this autumn, Japan's daily newspaper The Asahi Shimbun said.

Tokyo  - Demand for foreign-brand cars in Japan declined and imported vehicle sales in February sank to the lowest level in 20 years amid the global financial turmoil, an industry body said Thursday.

Sales of new cars imported from overseas fell 33.9 per cent in February to 12,350 units from the same month a year before, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said.

Sales of vehicles made by foreign companies declined 34 per cent to 10,833 units, and those of vehicles produced by Japanese makers abroad sank 33.2 per cent to 1,517 units.