The European Commission said it had cancelled subsidies worth 24 million euros $32
The European Commission said it had cancelled subsidies worth 24 million euros ($32.37 million) in the absence of any commitment to elections in 2009, as promised by military chief and interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. "I encourage the government of Fiji to fulfil its commitments to the EU so that we are able to reinstate sugar reform payments in the future," European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel said in a statement on Monday. Oil's tumble weighed on resource-linked shares, with oil andgas field developer Inpex (1605.T) losing 4.4 percent to 667,000yen and Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T), Japan's largest trading house,losing 2.8 percent to 1,620 yen.But Chugai, which distributes Tamiflu through its partnershipwith developer Roche, bucked the trend to rise 4.6 percent to1,848 yen, becoming the biggest contributor to the Nikkei 225 byvolume weight. Fujibo Holdings (3104.T), which makes medical masks, soared30.3 percent, or by its daily limit, to 129 yen. EXPORTERS HIT Orders for Japanese stocks placed through 10 foreignsecurities houses before the start of trade on Monday showed thatforeign brokers were set to be net buyers of 2.8 million shares.
Analysts noted that the Nikkei's 25-day moving average nowcomes in at about 8,954 and could provide support, but that thisdepends on whether the yen's advance against the dollar is haltedor not Exporters battered the tech- and exporter-heavy Nikkei. CanonInc (7751.T) lost 5.7 percent to 3,120 yen, Kyocera Corp (6971.T)lost 2.5 percent to 7,310 yen and Sony tumbled 6 percent to 2,415yen. Industrial robot maker Fanuc (6954.T) lost 3.9 percent to7,430 yen.Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) fell 3.1 percent to 3,480 yen andHonda Motor Co (7267.T) shed 3.6 percent to 2,665 yen. economic reports on Friday reinforced hopesthat the recession may be easing, but falling oil prices draggeddown energy shares and the rest of Wall Street with them. [.N] Oil edged lower after falling nearly 4 percent on Friday asdealers became increasingly pessimistic about the outlook forglobal energy demand. [O/R] "Recent economic indicators show that the worsening of theeconomy appears to have stopped, but now we need to see signs ofrecovery or it'll be difficult for stocks to rise decisively,"said Yoku Ihara, a manager at the investment informationdepartment of Retela Crea Securities. The benchmark Nikkei .N225 lost 264.67 points to 9,000.35after falling as low as 8,997.74, its lowest since May 1 Thebroader Topixfell 2.7 percent to 857.52.
Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into profitsmade abroad when repatriated. "We're also seeing investors taking profits, using thepotential economic impact should the flu situation get a lotworse as an excuse," Ushio added. But other analysts said the slide was mainly a reaction toWall Street's Friday losses, noting that the Nikkei hit six-monthhighs last week after gaining sharply and that a slightcorrection was not surprising A batch of U.S. [ID:nT317165] Chugai Pharmaceutical (4519.T) rose on hopes for strong salesof the Tamiflu flu drug after the number of HIN1 flu casesclimbed among Japanese who had not been abroad, but marketanalysts said worries about the impact of the virus on Japan'seconomy also gave investors an excuse to take profits.[ID:nT167834] The yen sank 0.6 percent to 94.61 yen JPY= on growingworries about risk after Wall Street closed weakly last week.[USD/]"Given that many exporters have set their currency rate at 95yen, we're now getting to a worrisome level," said Takashi Ushio,head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities. Panasonic (6752.T) dropped 7.8 percent after it forecast abigger-than-expected annual loss following a record quarter ofred ink, battered by weak demand, price falls and restructuringcosts. * Nikkei briefly below 9,000 in thin trade Stocks | Asian Markets | Global Markets | Japan * Exporters fall as yen advances * Panasonic tumbles after bigger-than-expected loss forecast * Chugai Pharmaceutical up as influenza worries grow By Elaine Lies TOKYO, May 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average lost2.9 percent on Monday, briefly touching its lowest point sinceMay 1, as Sony Corp (6758.T) and other exporters fell in the wakeof an advancing yen.
For more information about Percello,please visit # # # All trademarks contained herein (whether registered or not) and all associatedrights are recognized.Silicon & Software Systems (S3)Fiona D`Arcy, Corporate Communications Director,Tel: +353.87.2808828Email: Copyright Business Wire 2009. Percello team has vast knowledge in silicon design, software and3G/HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA+/LTE communication systems. The team has proven capabilityto deliver complicated SoC from standard to mass production. Percello's architecture combines programmable multi processing DSPs anddedicated HW accelerators. This approach is optimized for power consumption,cost reduction and risk minimization. For further informationplease visit or email us at About PercelloPercello, a fabless semiconductor company, was founded to provide digitalbaseband solutions to the challenges of the 3G/HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA+/LTE femtocellsmarket: cost, power, level of integration, development time and flexibility. Founded in 1986, S3 has design centers in Ireland (Dublin and Cork), Lisbon inPortugal, Wroclaw in Poland, Prague in the Czech Republic and San Jose in theUSA with sales offices and representatives globally.