81.   Traders said fears the yen would weaken further and drag down other Asian currencies were increasingly undermining sentiment on the stock market.

82.   Traders said the yen has weakened in Tokyo on expectations that the Bank of Japan plans to continue its accommodative monetary stance for the next few months.

83.   Traders said the yen weakened on newspaper reports that Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto may call a parliamentary general election as early as mid-October.

84.   If its price continues to rise, the dollar and the pound sterling should benefit and the yen should weaken.

85.   In recent months, however, the yen has weakened sharply against the dollar, reducing the need for such central bank intervention.

86.   A high yen weakens the competitiveness of Japanese products overseas.

87.   A ministry official said December output reflected an increase in corporate capital spending as earnings recovered and the yen weakened.

88.   The yen weakened against the dollar Monday on fears a plunge in the popularity of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would hurt his reform agenda, dealers said.

89.   The yen also weakened against the dollar ahead of the Japanese fiscal year-end.

90.   The yen weakened further Tuesday after comments by Japanese officials indicating the currency is not out of line with fundamentals.