The Tokyo stock market ended fiscal 1997 on a dour note March 31, with the key market gauge stopping far short of last year's level.
The 225-issue Nikkei average ended the day at 16,527.17, up 264.13 points from Monday's close, but down 1,476.23 points, or 8.2 percent, from the March 31, 1997, close of 18,003.40.
Leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party signaled repeatedly in recent months that they would funnel public funds into the market to bolster share prices back to the 18,000 level and help ease the plight of financial institutions, but the much-talked-about public support has failed to provide a major lift in share prices.
Reflecting a continued wave of foreign selling of Japanese securities, the yen gave up further ground against the dollar. The greenback changed hands at 132.40-42 yen at 3 p.m., compared with Monday's late quote of 131.65-68 yen.