Japan falls from OECD top 10 list of per-capita GDP in 2004
January 13, 2006Japan's per-capita nominal gross domestic product was $35,922 in 2004, making it fail to be included in the top 10 list among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, the government said Friday. The Cabinet Office said the result is due to foreign exchange factors and does not reflect Japan's actual economic situation. Japan ranked 11th among the 30 OECD members. Japan first made it to the top 10 list in 1984, when it ranked 10th, and was at the top in 1993.
Daiwa SMBC makes wrong order on Sumitomo Mitsui, loses 500 mil. yen
January 13, 2006Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. erroneously placed a sell order Friday for shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. rather than for shares of a different company before the market opened, losing 500 million yen as a result, the company said. After receiving an order from an institutional investor to sell 25,000 shares of an undisclosed company, Daiwa mistakenly placed a sell order for the same number of shares of the financial group on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 8:59 a.m., one minute before the opening bell.
Japan's November core machinery orders up 2.3% on month
January 13, 2006Japan's core private-sector machinery orders grew a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent in November from the previous month to 1,057.5 billion yen, the government said Friday. The figure represents an unadjusted 0.2 percent rise from a year earlier, the Cabinet Office said.
Proton shares plummet after Volkswagen calls off tie-up plan
January 13, 2006Shares of Malaysian automaker Proton Holdings Bhd. nosedived Friday after Volkswagen AG scrapped a joint venture plan to build and sell its cars for the Malaysian and Southeast Asian markets. Proton's share price opened at 5.10 ringgit (about $1.36), the lowest in four years. It was down 1.25 ringgit, or 19.6 percent, from Thursday's closing price of 6.35 ringgit at Bursa Malaysia, the Malaysian exchange.