Tokyo stocks are threatening to take the key Nikkei average into a range between 10,000 and 11,000.
The 225-issue Nikkei average is at its lowest level in more than 16 years as it includes many information- technology stocks that have plunged due to the burst of the IT-led speculative bubble.
But the broader Topix index of all first-section issues is 20 percent higher than its record low set in October 1998.