Tokyo Share Crisis - Answer Sheet

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Tokyo Share Crisis

Fill in the gaps with prepositions

The Tokyo stock market was forced to shut down

for

the first time

in

57 years today after

fraud allegations that surround pioneering internet portal firm Livedoor panicked many

investors and sent shares

into

a tailspin.

Just twenty minutes

before

the stock market was scheduled to close, the Tokyo Stock

Exchange said it could not accept any new orders

for

listed shares or bonds as a surge in

sell orders threatened to crash their computerized trading system.

Japanese stocks plunged

into

free-fall as this scandal surrounding the Livedoor group

made investors panic

for

a second day.

The decision to shut the stock exchange, and to only open it

for

a limited time on

Thursday – was yet another grim blow to investor confidence, as the TSE has been

responsible

for

two days of system-related chaos in the past few months.

Brokers reported making vain attempts to explain the situation

to

clients as "nothing

more than a three-day panic". Many decried the move as the panic of "gamblers who

thought they had the grit play

at

a high-stakes table, but would actually be better-off

playing the slot machines."

In one of the worst trading days for years the ‘Livedoor Shock’ sent the Nikkei 225 Index

into a nosedive throughout the morning, crashing

down

by more than 700 points before

staging a modest rally later.