Stock prices rose to ¥ - 21,000 in May and June 1997, and have recently been fluctuating without showing clear direction. In the foreign exchange market, the yen reached ¥ to the U.S. dollar in early May, but later appreciated and has recently moved at around ¥ - 116 to the U.S. dollar.
With respect to the fund-raising activities by firms, growth in bank lending continues to be lackluster but fund-raising through the capital market has been high, particularly in straight bonds. Growth in monetary aggregates in terms of M2 + CDs year-to-year average outstanding has continued at around 3.0 per cent. 3.