《Economic Information Daily, special report on the 20th》Japanese stocks declined in morning trading, with the Nikkei 225 index closing the first half at 64,512, down 404 points or 0.62%. The South Korean KOSPI index was reported at 5,611, down 156 points or 2.72%.

The U.S. dollar against the Japanese yen was quoted at 158.45/47.