The stock of Ashikaga Financial Group Inc., the holding company of the recently nationalized Ashikaga Bank, ended its final trading day Friday at 1 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The stock, which has been placed in the TSE's liquidation post since Dec. 26, remained unchanged at the lowest-possible price since Jan. 14. It will become worthless when the company is delisted from the TSE on Monday.

Ashikaga Financial shares have been the target of speculative trading -- mainly by individual investors seeking quick profits -- since its core banking subsidiary was placed under state control on Dec. 1 following the government's judgment that it had become insolvent, with a negative net worth of more than 100 billion yen.

The stock plunged to 1 yen on Dec. 3 from about 50 yen two days earlier, but turned upward and hit 24 yen on Dec. 11.

Trading volume for the stock was the largest among all first section issues on the TSE for 19 trading days between Dec. 3 and 30 as so-called day traders engaged in speculative transactions mainly using the Internet.

Ashikaga Financial shares also grabbed media attention when a man who claimed he had reaped huge capital gains from trading in the stock threw 1 million yen worth of dollar bills from the observatory of Nagoya TV tower in late December.

On Dec. 25, Ashikaga Financial filed for protection from creditors with the Tokyo District Court under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.