>TOKYO, Japan - Japanese share prices opened down 0.37 percent Friday after "stress tests" on US banks offered few surprises.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index, which rose 4.55 percent to a six-month high in post-holiday trading Thursday, fell 34.30 points to 9,351.40 in the first minute of trading.
US regulators said 10 major US banks need to raise a total of 74.6 billion dollars to provide a buffer in the event of a deeper economic slump.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the results of the stress tests "should provide considerable comfort to investors and the public" despite the need for new capital in around half of the banks subjected to the process. -AFP
