JAPANESE FIRMS' CROSS-HOLDINGS UP TO 3.2% IN FY03.

AsiaPulse News, December, 2004

TOKYO, Dec 8 Asia Pulse - The percentage of shares in the entire market that are cross-held by listed nonfinancial firms rose to 3.2 per cent in fiscal 2003, marking the first increase in eight years, according to a report released Tuesday by Daiwa Institute of Research.

"The cross-held shares that the banks unloaded were absorbed by other listed nonfinancial companies," says Masaharu Ito, a chief analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.

In fiscal 2002, the percentage stood at slightly more than 2.99 per cent.

The report covers listed firms on the stock exchanges in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, as well as on the Jasdaq over-the-counter markets and the markets for start-ups. The shareholdings of the firms were estimated based on information on financial...