By Jason Clenfield July 24 (Bloomberg) - Japan's exports fell for the first time in more than four years as demand for cars and electronics cooled, signaling the U.S. slowdown is spreading to the emerging markets that helped sustain growth.
Exports decreased 1.7 percent in June from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 3.3 percent gain. The drop was the first since November 2003.
n traded at 107.76 per dollar at 12:04 p.m. in Tokyo from 107.93 before the report was published.

(RTTNews) - The Japanese market was trading higher on Thursday for the third straight session, following the overnight gains on Wall Street, another drop in

5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Corporate loan demand declines in July. Chugai profit drops. Nikon falls on weak tech stocks.
Japan market averages rose spurred by rising commodity stocks and elevated futures prices oil. Crude oil futures rose as a storm in the Gulf of Mexico headed in the direction of oil installations in Mexico and Texas. Base metal prices rose as well.
iew period, while medium sized companies tumbled to minus 7 from 2. Small non-manufacturing firms edged down to minus 16 from minus 4 in April.

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japanese government bonds closed lower on Wednesday after Japanese stocks rallied on a retreat in oil prices and a softer yen.
Investors were also cautious before the finance ministry's auction of 800 billion yen ($7.4 billion) worth of 20-year bonds on Thursday, with the market expecting the coupon will be set at 2.3 percent.
ure reaches the 2.0 percent level, it will not necessarily mean that the Bank of Japan's monetary policy will change immediately because the central bank is assessing other economic conditions as well,' said Satoshi Yamada, general manager at Okasan Asset Management.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices rose 1.01 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday after a late rally overnight on Wall Street sparked by a slide in oil prices and easing financial worries, dealers said.
They said the market mood remained positive here a day after the benchmark closed above the key 13,000 points level for the first time in a week, with a weaker yen helping to boost exporters.
re not as bad as feared.

TOKYO, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese share prices rose 1.29 percent in morning trade on Tuesday as investors hunted for bargains after a long weekend, encouraged by better-than-expected earnings at Bank of America, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 165.31 points to 12,969.01 by the lunch break. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 11.35 points or 0.91 percent to 1,263.78.
ealers said.