After a year that saw share prices dive to 19-year lows, the Tokyo stock market is likely to see further turbulence in 2003, with some market watchers suspecting the Nikkei average could slip below 8,000.
As it stands now, the Nikkei's fall to the low- to mid-8,000 range last year left investors with heavy unrealized losses in their portfolios.
Individual investor Tetsuji Fujii, 66, said he was shocked by share price falls that swelled latent losses in four stock investment trust products he bought two years ago to some 20 million yen.