1.   Sentiment was also depressed by Chancellor Kenneth Clarke refusing to rule out tax rises in the November Budget.

2.   And some Wall Street analysts wonder whether reaching that level might depress investor sentiment.

3.   Richard Bernstein, the director of quantitative research at Merrill Lynch, said that he expected the pre-announcements of earnings to depress sentiment.

4.   The ending of special tax rebates in July and boosting of medical premiums in September depressed consumer sentiment further.

5.   Analysts also said overseas investment in Japanese stocks at the start of the new year has been lower than expected, depressing market sentiment.

6.   Falling markets elsewhere in the region depressed sentiment further.

7.   Fears of an pending increase in U.S. interest rates also depressed market sentiment.

8.   In Hong Kong, higher domestic interest rates further depressed investor sentiment and sent the benchmark index down for the third straight day.

9.   Punishing the culprits would seem to be quite important, as the Government would certainly not want a repeat of the sugar issue to depress consumer sentiment further.

10.   Rumours that Indonesia might lift the ban on its palm oil exports also depressed market sentiments, the dealer added.