Japan's Household Financial Assets Down 4.3 Pct

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)--Financial assets held by Japanese
households at the end of June shrank 4.3 pct from a year before, as the appraisal value of their stockholdings diminished due to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and the slowing global economy, Bank of Japan data showed Tuesday.

The balance of household financial assets totaled 1,503,771.6
billion yen as of the end of June, with a slight increase from three months
before, the BOJ said in a quarterly report.
Of the total, stockholdings and capital contribution tumbled 30.3
pct from a year earlier to 143,448.2 billion yen.
Overseas securities jumped 48.1 pct to a record high of 13,441.7
billion yen. Foreign currency deposits grew 25.5 pct to 4,907.2 billion yen.
Cash and bank deposits held by households edged up 0.9 pct to
784,234.9 billion yen, accounting for 52.2 pct of the total financial
assets.